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THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM 
OF ART 

PUBLICATION OF 
THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION 


THE CRAFT OF ATHENIAN POTTERY 


BY GISELA M. A. RICHTER 



OF THIS BOOK 
500 COPIES WERE PRINTED 
IN MAY 1923 


THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM 

OF ART 


THE CRAFT OF 

ATHENIAN POTTERY 


AN INVESTIGATION OF THE 
TECHNIQUE OF BLACK-FIGURED AND 
RED-FIGURED ATHENIAN VASES 


y 


BY 


GISELA Mf A. RICHTER, Litt.D. 

n 

ASSOCIATE CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OP CLASSICAL ART 



NEW HAVEN 

l r ALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 

LONDON • HUMPHREY MILFORD * OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 

MDCCCCXXIII 








MK4645 

7R<o 


<- 

COPYRIGHT 1923 BY THE 
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 



AUG -3 i*23 

©C1A752353 


'Vv® 1 


InJj i *?> CL 


(O 

<s 

r 


3 


CONTENTS 


Page 

List of Illustrations ....... vii 

Preface. . xi 

Chapter I. Technical Processes in the Making of 
Modern Pottery and their Application to the Tech¬ 


nique of Ancient Vases.1 

Preparation of the Clay ....... 1 

Ingredients and Properties ...... 1 

Washing .......... 2 

Wedging .......... 2 

Fashioning the Vases ........ 4 

(1) Wheel work ........ 4 

Types of Wheel ........ 4 

Throwing ......... 7 

Turning ......... 10 

Work in Sections ....... 15 

Polishing ......... 19 

Attachment of handles ...... 20 

(2) Building ......... 26 

(3) Moulding ........ 27 

Firing the Vases ........ 29 

Production of Temperature . . . . . .29 

Types of Kilns ........ 32 

Packing the Kiln ........ 34 

Firing ... ...... 35 

Number of Firings . . . . . . .37 

Injuries in the Firing ....... 44 

Glazing .......... 47 

Red Ochre Wash ......... 53 

Were Athenian Vases Made for Every-Day Use? . . 59 

Chapter II. Representations of Ancient Potters . 64 

Fashioning the Vases ....... 64 

Decorating the Vases . . . . . . . .70 

Firing the Vases ........ 75 

Miscellaneous Scenes . . . . . . . .78 

Representations Wrongly Interpreted as Pottery Scenes . 83 

Potter’s Implements ........ 84 










11 


CONTENTS 


Page 

Chapter III. References to the Pottery Craft in 


Ancient Literature.87 

Preparation of the Clay ....... 87 

Fashioning the Vases ....... 89 

(1) Wheelwork.89 

(2) Building ........ 93 

Firing the Vases ........ 94 

Red Ochre Wash ......... 96 

Porosity of Greek Pottery ...... 98 

The Status of Potters ....... 98 

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . .106 

Selected Bibliography . . . . . . . .109 

Index . . . . . . . . . . .111 









ILLUSTRATIONS 

Figure p a <jc 

1. Wedging (a).3 

2. Wedging (b).4 

3. Kick-wheel w r ith treadle ....... 5 

4. Kick-wheel with disk ........ G 

5. Wheel put in motion by assistant turning handle ... 6 


Processes of throwing: 

6. Centering ball 

7. Pressing clay down 

8. Squeezing clay into cone 

9. Inserting thumb . 

10. Making cylinder . 

11. Making bowl . 

12. Making jar . 

13. Making bottle 


7 

»T 

I 

7 

7 

8 
8 
8 
8 


14. Turning a vase ......... 10 

15. Turned foot .......... 11 

16. Foot left as thrown ........ 12 

17. Turning marks on outside of vase ..... 13 

18. Turning marks on inside of vase ...... 13 

19. Finishing marks left in handwork . . . . .14 

20. Unturned inside of amphora ....... 15 

21. Vase thrown in sections ....... 16 

22. Sections in place ......... 17 

23. Vase after turning ........ 17 

24. Wet cellar .......... 18 

25. Detail of kylix showing joint . . . . . .19 

26. Detail of amphora showing difference between polished and 

unpolished surfaces ........ 20 

27. Attachment of handles . . . . . . . .21 

28-33. Athenian vases showing treatment of handles . . 22, 23, 24 

34. Detail of krater showing under part of handle left rough . 25 

35. Making coils .......... 26 

36. Vase poured in a mould ... . . . . .28 

37. Inside of moulded vase ....... 29 

38. Vase showing joint of two parts of mould . . . .30 

39. Open kiln .......... 31 

40. Muffle kiln with biscuit ware ...... 32 

41. Open kiln showing saggers ....... 33 

42. Muffle kiln with glazed ware ....... 34 

43. Detail of amphora showing preliminary sketch . . .37 

44. Design on red-figured krater. 

(a) Preliminary sketch ....... 38 

(b) Completed painting ....... 38 















Till 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Figure 


Page 

45. 

Detail of hydria showing dent with mark over black glaze 

41 

46. 

Detail of amphora showing dent with clay from other body 



still adhering ....... 

• 

• 

42 

47. 

Unfinished kylix ....... 

• 

• 

43 

48. 

Foot of unfinished kylix ..... 

• 

• 

43 

49. 

Black-glazed amphora with large red spot on one side 

• 

• 

46 


Methods of Glazing: 




50. 

Dipping ........ 

. 

• 

48 

51. 

Pouring ........ 


• 

49 

52. 

Use of the brush ....... 

. 

• 

50 

53. 

Spraying ........ 

• 

• 

51 

54. 

Hydria showing brush marks .... 

• 

• 

52 

55. 

Detail of psykter showing relief line 

• 

• 

53 

56. 

Detail of amphora showing diluted black glaze line 

(on 



arm) going over red ochre left in preliminary 

sketch 



line ......... 

• 

• 

57 

57. 

Inside of krater showing extensive wear 

• 

• 

63 


Representations of ancient potters fashioning vases: 




58. 

Athenian pottery establishment .... 


• 

64 

59. 

Potter throwing ....... 


• 

66 

60. 

Potter throwing ....... 


• 

66 

61. 

Potter attaching handles ..... 


• 

67 

62. 

Potter incising lines (?) 


• 

68 

63. 

Potter joining sections (?) . 


• 

68 

64. 

Boy finishing a vase . . i . . . 


• 

69 

65. 

Potter building a vase ...... 


• 

70 


Representations of ancient potters decorating vases: 




66. 

Athena and Victories crowning potters at work . 



71 

67. 

Youth decorating kylix ...... 



72 

68. 

Potter glazing kylix ...... 



73 

69. 

Potter painting bands on a krater 



73 

70. 

Three youths, one painting a krater 



74 

71. 

Pottery establishment ...... 



75 


Representations of ancient potters firing: 




72. 

Potter stoking fire ...... 


• 

76 

73. 

Potter stoking fire ...... 


• 

76 

74- 

79. Potters regulating draught .... 

• 

• 

77 

80. 

Vases stacked in potter’s kiln .... 

• 

• 

78 


a 

Representations of ancient potters : miscellaneous scenes : 



81. 

Youth removing vase from oven with two sticks . 

• 

• 

79 

82. 

Youth working on vases (?) , 

• 

• 

79 











ILLUSTRATIONS ix 

Figure Page 

83. Master potter(?) ......... 80 

84. Woman potter(?) ........ 81 

85. Client in potter’s shop ........ 82 

86. Ship with cargo of pottery ....... 82 

Potter’s Implements: 

S7. Wheel-head .......... 84 

88. Tools found at Arezzo ... .... 85 

89. Stilt.85 



PREFACE 


F OR our knowledge of the technique of Athenian vases 
we have various sources of information. There are 
a number of references to the craft in ancient litera¬ 
ture; w r e have several actual representations of potters 
at work among extant vase paintings; and there is the 
important testimony of the vases themselves. The informa¬ 
tion gleaned from these three sources has been duly worked 
over by archaeologists, and the many accounts we have of 
the technique of Greek vases are all based more or less on 
this evidence. There is, however, another very important 
source of information ready to our hand which has not been 
fully utilized, namely, the study of the technical processes 
employed in the making of modern pottery. For, the 
nature and properties of clay being the same now that they 
were in Greek times, the manner of working it must have 
been essentially the same then as now. Many archaeologists 
have, of course, seen potters at work in different places, or 
perhaps consulted potters on specific points; but that is a 
different thing from getting a thorough knowledge of the 
craft oneself and learning once for all what is possible and 
what is not possible in clay-working. 

The neglect of this highly valuable source of information 
has led to some surprising theories regarding the technique 
of Greek vases; and these theories have been repeated over 
and over again in our books on vases, for the simple reason 
that, not having any first-hand knowledge, we have copied 
these statements from one another. A modern potter read¬ 
ing these accounts finds them remarkable literature. The 
present writer, realizing her own ignorance on the many 
questions of clay-working, went to a modern pottery school. 
The result of this first-hand study was not only the acquisi¬ 
tion of new knowledge, but a totally new insight into the 


Xll 


PREFACE 


whole subject. The present essay is an attempt to revise 
the current theories of the technique of Athenian pottery 
in the light of this practical experience. 

Not only does such practical experience supply us with 
the knowledge essential for the consideration of technical 
problems, but it gives us a new appreciation of the beauty 
of Athenian vases. If we try to make such shapes ourselves 
we shall begin to observe many details which perhaps 
passed unnoticed before—the finely designed handles, the 
well-proportioned feet, the practical mouths; and the 
curves, the mouldings, and the subtle variations will become 
a constant delight to the eye. Moreover, we shall be 
impressed more than ever with the wonderful sense of pro¬ 
portion in Athenian vases. For the relation of the height 
to the width, the proportions of the neck, the body, the foot, 
and the handles to one another appear to be all nicely 
thought out. There is no hit-or-miss about it; the whole is 
an interrelated theme evidently planned carefully before 
making, either by the potter himself or by a professional 
designer. 

In short, any one who has tried his hand in the produc¬ 
tion of Greek forms will understand very well that the 
makers of such vases were proud of their work and that the 
signature of a well-known potter was at least as valuable as 
that of a popular decorator. 1 

The pottery school to which I went was the New York 
State School of Ceramics at Alfred, New York. Through¬ 
out my work at the school and later in my investigation of 
Greek vases at the Metropolitan Museum, I had the great 

1 Reichhold’s theory in his Skizzenbuch griechischer Meister (1919), 
p. 12, that the word eiroLyaev (“made it”) in a signature refers to the 
draughtsman of the sketch for the decoration, while its executor signed 
eypaxf/ev (“painted it”), since the actual making of the vase “required 
no artistic skill and could be left to every apprentice,” only shows 
his exclusive preoccupation with the drawings on the vases, in the 
copying of which he so much excelled. 


PREFACE 


xui 


benefit of the advice of Professor Charles F. Binns, director 
of the school. In fact, any value which this paper may pos¬ 
sess is largely due to this opportunity of appeal to someone 
who possesses the rare combination of expert knowledge in 
the field of practical pottery with a scholar’s attitude toward 
the problems presented by the ancient ware. It is also a 
pleasure to acknowledge the many helpful suggestions made 
from time to time by Miss Maude Robinson, director of the 
pottery work at Greenwich House, New York, as well as by 
Miss Elsie Binns and Harold Nash, modern potters whom I 
have had the advantage of consulting on various questions. 
I am indebted to Miss Helen McClees for valuable assistance 
in the section dealing with the references to pottery craft 
in ancient literature. In my examination of Greek vases, 
which necessitated handling of the specimens, I was greatly 
helped by the courteous assistance of many museum 
directors. 

The plan of this book is as follows: The first chapter 
gives a concise account of the processes in use in the making 
of vases at modern pottery schools 1 and their application to 
the technique of ancient vases. The second chapter con¬ 
tains a description of the various representations we have of 
ancient potters at work. In the third chapter are collected 
the chief Greek and Latin texts referring to the ancient pot¬ 
tery craft. After this presentation of all the evidence on 
the technique of Athenian vases comes a short summary of 
the new conclusions arrived at, and a selected bibliography. 

The illustrations of modern pottery scenes were taken 
under the direction of Charles F. Binns at the New York 
State School of Ceramics, Alfred, 2 and of Maude Robinson 
at pottery studios in New York City. 3 

1 For any one who wishes to study this subject at greater length, 
Charles F. Binns’s w r ork on the Potter’s Craft is strongly recom¬ 
mended (second edition, 1922). 

2 Figs. 1, 2, 6-13, 14, 21-23, 27, 39, 41. 

3 Figs. 3, 4, 35, 36, 40, 42, 50, 51, 52. 










I. TECHNICAL PROCESSES 


IN THE MAKING OF MODERN POTTERY AND THEIR 
APPLICATION TO THE TECHNIQUE OF ANCIENT VASES 
PREPARATION OF THE CLAY 

Ingredients and properties. 

HE making of a pot begins in the clay bed. The 
clay has to be found, it has to be transported, and 
above all it has to be tested to see whether it is 
adapted to the potter’s needs. For there are many different 
kinds of clay and they are as individual as human beings; 
so that a thorough understanding of them is essential to 
the successful potter. 

The chief ingredients of clay are silica, alumina, and 
water. Other possible ingredients are iron oxide, lime 
(calcium oxide), magnesia, and potash. To the iron com¬ 
pounds are due the different colors of the clay. When pot¬ 
ters speak of the color of a clay—red, yellow, white—they 
refer to the color after burning, not in the raw state. The 
tones of the color are controlled by heat; for instance, a red 
clay becomes first pink, then in a higher fire a deeper red, 
and in a still higher fire a brownish red. 

The potter demands three properties of his clay: (1) 
plasticity, the property which enables the clay to acquire 
form; (2) porosity, the property which enables the water 
to escape; and (3) vitrification, the property which enables 
the clay to be fired. These three properties are due to the 
three chief component parts of the clay; namely, clay base, 
quartz, and feldspar. It will be found that some clays are 
not plastic enough, others not sufficiently porous, and others 
again not properly vitrifiable; in such cases the addition of 
certain substances is necessary to make the clay usable. 



2 


THE CRAFT OF 


The actual composition of the clay, therefore, is of great 
importance, as no amount of skilful labor will avail if the 
clay itself has not the right consistency. 

Washing. 

When the right composition of the clay lias been assured, 
the next step is to wash it and separate it from the many 
natural impurities, such as stones, sticks, etc., with which 
it is mixed. A clay not properly washed is a source of 
great vexation in the later stages of pottery making. The 
best method is that of “blunging,” that is, the dry clay 
is put into water and stirred constantly until it reaches the 
consistency of cream, technically called “slip,” whereupon 
it is poured through sieves, coarse or fine according to the 
desired consistency. The liquid clay or slip must then be 
dried sufficiently to become plastic and workable. This can 
be done either in filter presses in which the water is squeezed 
out in a comparatively short time, or in shallow receptacles in 
the open air where the water is allowed slowly to evaporate. 

Wedging. 

But even at this stage the clay is not yet ready for use; 
it has first to go through the important process of kneading 
or “wedging.” This consists of cutting a ball of clay in 
two against a wire (fig. 1), slapping the two parts on a 
plaster or wooden board, one on top of the other (fig. 2), 
then lifting up the whole lump, cutting it in two again, and 
slapping it down as before. The purpose is to remove all 
air bubbles and to correct irregularities in hardness. The 
operation has sometimes to be repeated fifteen or twenty 
times before a good texture is secured. 1 

1 In commercial potteries where a larger output and coarser wares are 
produced wedging en gros becomes necessary. In modern Greece it is 
done by treading the clay with bare feet. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


3 


We learn from the above survey that the fine consistency 
of the clay in Athenian and in some other Greek wares is not 
necessarily due to its natural state, but to the careful wash¬ 
ing and kneading undergone in its preparation for use. 
When different particles are found in the fired clay they 



Fig. 1. Wedging (a) 


are due to indifferent washing. And the varying shades of 
pink and red of Greek vases likewise do not presuppose 
different kinds of clay, but are due largely to the various 
temperatures to which the vases were fired. We have too 
often made our analyses of clays of Greek vases without due 
cognizance of these facts. 






4 


THE CRAFT OF 


FASHIONING THE VASES 
(1) WHEELWORK 

There are three principal ways of making vases—fash¬ 
ioning them on the wheel, building them, and making 
them from moulds. Let us examine first the work on the 
wheel, the potter’s tool par excellence. 



Fig. 2. Wedging (b) 


Types of wheel. 

There are various types of wheel in general use today. 
The wheel run by electric power does not concern us here 
since it cannot have been used by the Greeks. In studio 












ATHENIAN POTTERY 


5 


potteries, a kick-wlieel is often used. In this the operator 
stands and kicks with his left foot against a treadle, the 
weight of his body being supported by the right (fig. 3). 
Another fairly popular type has a large, heavy disk at the 



Fig. 3. Kick-wheel with treadle 


bottom revolving in a horizontal plane, and kept in motion 
by one foot of the operator (fig. 4). A very simple type 
of wheel in use some time ago is illustrated in fig. 5. Here 
the motion is imparted by an assistant turning the handle. 

Any one of these three types may have been used by the 
Greeks. In the representations of ancient potters at work 
(cf. pp. 64 ff.) the wheel appears to have been propelled 
either with the foot or by an assistant. 





(3 


THE CRAFT OF 



Fig. 4. Kick-wheel with disk 



Fig. 5. Wheel put in motion by assistant turning handle 
Barber, The Pottery and Porcelain of the United States, p. 4, fig. 2 




















ATHENIAN POTTERY 


tV 

i 


L i 


Throwing. 

The first task in fashioning a vase on the wheel—or 
throwing it, as it is technically called—is to center the 



Fig. 7. Pressing clay down 


Fig. 6. Centering ball 





Fig. 8. Squeezing clay into cone Fig. 9. Inserting thumb 

Figs. 6-9. Processes of throwing 

ball of clay on the wheel-head. It is accomplished by 
pressing the left hand against the ball of clay as it revolves 
rapidly, care being taken to keep the left forearm abso- 















8 


THE CRAFT OF 


lately rigid (fig. 6). The right hand is used for keeping 
the clay wet by sprinkling it with water, and for pulling 
the clay inward, thus squeezing it np to a cone. The cone 





Fig. 12. Making jar Fig. 13. Making bottle 

Figs. 10-13. Processes of throwing 

is pressed up and down in this manner several times (figs. 
7 and 8). When the ball runs perfectly true, it is time to 
open it by inserting the thumb in the center (fig. 9) ; then 














9 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 

by placing the fingers of one hand inside the hollow, and the 
fingers of the other on the outside, 1 and by raising both 
hands gradually several times and squeezing the clay lightly 
while so doing, a cylinder is formed (fig. 10). The cylinder 
is the foundation of all other shapes. For to produce a 
bowl, one need only pull out the cylinder a little at the top 
(fig. 11) ; to make a globular jar, pull it out at the bottom 
and in at the top (fig. 12) ; to fashion a long-necked vase, 
pull it out at the bottom and in at the top, leaving enough 
clay to spin the top into a tall, narrow cylinder which will 
serve as a neck (fig. 13) ; and by various other manipula¬ 
tions one can produce almost every variety of shape. To 
throw a vase to specific measurements, a careful drawing of 
the shape should first be made and calipers and measuring 
sticks kept close at hand for checking the work as it 
proceeds. 

The earliest Greek vases are made by hand; but from the 
Early Minoan III and Middle Helladic I periods (i. e., 
about 2200 B.C.) in certain places at least, vases were regu¬ 
larly thrown on the wheel. They could not have the regular 
and symmetrical outlines they have if they were built by 
hand, and many would show traces of vertical joints if 
they were made in moulds. 

Tliat the processes of throwing were identical with those 
described as in use todav, there is of course no means of 
determining; but they certainly must have been similar, as 
clay has not changed its nature from Greek times to ours. 
The evidence which we glean from representations on Greek 
vases of potters at work, scanty though it is, bears out this 
self-evident fact. From the above description it will be noted 
that in this work of throwing the simultaneous use of both 
hands is necessary—an important fact to remember when 
interpreting scenes to be related to the fashioning of vases. 

1 Sometimes a wooden scraper is held on the outside to obtain a 
smoother surface; especially in cases when the later process of turning 
is dispensed with. 


10 


THE CRAFT OF 


Turning. 

After a piece has been thrown on the wheel, it has 
assumed its general shape, but that is all. The thinning of 
the walls, the refinements of foot and lip, all such finishing 
touches must be reserved for the next process. This is 
known among modern potters as turning. In this the 



Fig. 14. Turning a vase 


clay is no longer in a wet state, but in a ‘ ‘ leather-hard ’ ’ 
condition, and it is not worked with the hands but with 
steel cutting tools. A newly shaped vase becomes leather 
hard after it has been kept in the air and the water allowed 
to evaporate for about twenty-four hours. Pieces in this 
state are hard enough to be handled with care and to be cut 
easily with a knife. They are not so fragile as either in the 




ATHENIAN POTTERY 


11 


wet or in the ‘‘bone-dry” state, but they are still delicate 
and exposed to many dangers. Not until a vase lias been 
fired is it safe to handle it freely. The cutting with the 
steel tools is done on the wheel (or “jigger” 1 ), the right 
hand which grasps the tool being kept steady by letting it 
rest on a stick held in the left hand; the stick should have 
a sharpened nail on one end, the point of which is pressed 
into a wooden board at the height required (fig. 14). By 



Fig. 15. Turned foot 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. 12.234.2 


continued cutting off of thin shavings of clay and by adding 
more clay in slip form when more is needed, the final out¬ 
line of the shape and the various grooves and mouldings for 
lip and foot can be obtained. But it is a slow process, 
requiring time, care, and great patience. For the smooth¬ 
ing of the surface, scrapers, sandpaper, and sponge are 
useful. 

This turning or refining of the shape after throwing, was, 

1 The jigger is the technical word for the wheel on which shapes are 
moulded with the aid of a jolly or profile; but it can be used for other 
purposes. The difference between an ordinary wheel and a jigger is 
that in the former the speed is changeable, in the latter fixed. 




12 


THE CEAFT OF 


as we might expect, not in universal use in ancient times. 
Prior to the sixth century B.C. it was used occasionally here 
and there, and often only to a limited extent. But there 
cannot be the slightest doubt that in the Athenian black- 
figured and red-figured vases extensive use was made of the 



Fig. 16. Foot left as thrown 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. 07.232.30 


turning tools. The grooves and mouldings for lip and foot 
were produced by this turning process, not, as modern 
archaeologists tell us, by the use of moulds. 1 For this there 
is abundant proof. The feet of Athenian vases are almost 
all turned at the bottom, some with remarkable care and 
finish (fig. 15), not left flat, as they would be after throwing 
(fig. 16). The lids of pyxides and similar vases could not 
have been made to fit so neatly on their ledges without the 
use of turning. Above all, the wonderful finish and pre¬ 
cision of Athenian vases could never have been attained by 
mere throwing. But there is even more convincing proof. 
Unless the marks of the turning tools are very carefully 
obliterated (with scrapers, sandpaper, and sponge), traces 

1 Cf. e.g. Walters, Ancient Pottery, vol. I, p. 208; Herford, Greek 
Vase Painting, p. 9; etc., etc. 





ATHENIAN POTTERY 


13 



Fig. 17. Turning marks on outside of vase 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. 06.1021.64 



Fig. 18. Turning marks on inside of vase 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. G.R.1228 



14 


THE CRAFT OF 


of them are always visible. And this is the case also in 
Athenian vases. The outside surfaces are generally care¬ 
fully smoothed, but even there the ridges formed by the 
tools are often discernible (fig. 17) ; and on the inside of 
the necks or feet or lids such ridges and concentric or spiral 
scratches are quite frequent (fig. 18). They are very dif¬ 
ferent, however, from the finishing marks left in handwork 
(fig. 19). To appreciate the fine, smooth surface which 
work with the turning tools produces, we need only examine 



Fig. 19. Finishing marks left in handwork 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. G.R.834 

the insides of most Athenian amphorai and hydriai; for 
these, being more or less concealed, are generally left as 
thrown, often showing the spiral ridges which rapidly 
revolving clay will cause (fig. 20). They thus form a strik¬ 
ing contrast to the finely smoothed outside surfaces. 

The fact that the Athenian potter made use of the turning 
process shows incidentally that he was able to make his 
vases to very exact measurements. This is important in 
connection with Jay Hambidge’s theory that Athenian pot- 
t ry was carefully designed on certain geometrical princi¬ 
ples -, 1 for if the Athenian potter had confined himself 

1 Cf. Jay Hambidge, Dynamic Symmetry, the Greek Vase, and L. D. 
Caskey, Geometry of Greek Vases. 





ATHENIAN POTTEEY 


15 


merely to throwing on the wheel that would not have been 
possible. It is during the second process of turning that an 
expert potter can effect many changes in width and height 
or in details, and thus make his product correspond exactly 
with his carefully planned design. Modern potters of 
standing work in the same way today. They first make a 
drawing of a vase, full size or to scale, and then proceed to 
follow this drawing in every detail, using rules and calipers 
for their guidance. Of course it needs a great deal of skill 



Fig. 20. Unturned inside of amphora 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. G.R.545 


and patience to be able to work so exactly; but Greek pot¬ 
ters, we can be quite sure, had a good supply of both of 
these qualities. 

Work in sections. 

So far we have spoken only of comparatively small vases, 
which can be thrown all in one piece. Larger vases are 
best thrown in sections. To throw large jars in one piece 
requires great physical strength, and it is very difficult to 
finish such jars properly on the inside and to prevent them 
from being unduly heavy. The section work is by no means 




16 


THE CRAFT OF 


easy. At first a drawing of the vase has to be made, either 
full size or to scale, and the heights of the different parts 
marked off. While throwing the respective pieces use must 
be made of measuring sticks and calipers, to obtain the 
right heights and diameters. The measurements should be 
those of the soft clay, which will of course be slightly larger 
than those of the final shape. About one-eighth is the 
average allowance for the shrinkage of the clay in drying 



Fig. 21. Vase thrown in sections 


and firing. This shrinkage will naturally be proportional; 
so that the relation of every part to the whole will be the 
same in the fired vase as in the thrown product. The join¬ 
ing is obtained by applying a thick slip of the same clay as 
was used for the vase, to act as a binder. When all the sec¬ 
tions are in place the outside of the vase can be ‘‘turned.” 
If this and the foregoing processes are done skilfully the 
final joints will hardly be visible, even before the glaze is 
applied. Figs. 21, 22, 23 show the three chief sta ges in the 
making of a vase in sections. 

To obtain good results in this work it is important that it 
should not be hurried. It is best, for instance, before join¬ 
ing the sections, to let them stand on top of one another for 
a day or longer, in order that they may mature together. 
To retain the pieces during this time in leather-hard condi¬ 
tion, they must be kept in a “wet cellar,” that is, in a moist 






ATHENIAN POTTERY 


1? 


place where the water in the clay will not evaporate (fig. 
*24). With this simple precaution pieces can be kept 
leather hard practically indefinitely. 

Section work was used by the Greeks, as it is now. There 
would, in fact, be nothing gained in throwing the very 
large vases, such as some of the kraters and amphorai, all 



in one piece; and though the joints are, as a rule, skilfully 
concealed, they are plainly visible on certain examples, espe¬ 
cially on the inside. Where possible the joints seem to 
have been made at the natural angles or “articulations” 
of the vase (that is, at the neck, the foot, etc.) ; and further 
to simplify the work, a thin ridge of clay was often added 
to conceal the joint. 1 

One of the most difficult things to throw successfully is a 
flat, wide bowl on a foot; and the larger the diameter of the 
bowl the more difficult the task, since the overhanging rim 
almost always sags at the critical moment. The fifth-century 

1 Cf. e.g. in the Metropolitan Museum Nos. 08.258.21 and 12.236, 
where the joint is visible underneath the clay ridge. 






18 


THE CRAFT OF 


kylix has therefore always been rightly admired as one of 
the greatest feats of the Athenian potter. How did he pre¬ 
vent the bowl from sagging ? Did he throw it upside down 
and hollow it out later with the turning tools? Or did he 



Fig. 24. Wet cellar 


make the base very thick and then “turn” it down to fit on 
a slender foot? Both methods would be clumsy, as they 
would entail lengthy turning work. Or was the Athenian 
potter so skilful that he somehow prevented the clay from 
sagging? Not at all. He simply threw his kylix in two sec¬ 
tions ; the foot with a bowl about half the required diameter 
in one piece (or possibly two, with the foot separate), and 
the remaining part of the bowl as a separate section. The 
joints where the two parts of the bowl were united are 








ATHENIAN POTTERY 


19 


clearly visible on many kylikes on the outside (fig. 25) 1 ; 
the inside of the kylix, being the most conspicuous part, is 
always so carefully turned that no joining can be detected. 

Polishing. 

To impart a polish, the blade of a knife is applied to the 
surface while the vase is revolving; for an inward curve a 
curved tool must be used. The operation is simple and can 



Fig. 25. Detail of kylix showing joint 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. 06.1021.167 


be accomplished in a few minutes. It is not often employed, 
however, by the modern potter, whose object is to keep the 
pores of his vase open for the better adhesion of the glaze 
with which he intends to cover the surface of his pot. 

The Athenian potter, on the other hand, put great stress 
on giving the surface of his vase a fine polish; probably 
using the simple method described above. The difference 
between a polished and an unpolished surface is clearly seen 
on some vases on which the potter has omitted to repolish 
the parts round the handles where the slip used for the 
attachment had spilled over (fig. 26), 

1 Cf. also especially Metropolitan Museum Nos. G. R. 534, 09.221.47, 
09.221.48, 06.1021.168, G. R. 581, 18.145.28, etc. 










20 


THE CEAFT OF 


Attachment of handles. 

Tlie final process in the fashioning of a vase is the attach¬ 
ment of the handles. These can be made either in moulds 
or by hand. Any one who thinks that the making of 
handles is a simple or quick process will soon be undeceived. 
Whether working in plaster, as one would if the handle is 



Fig. 26. Detail of amphora showing difference between 
polished and unpolished surfaces 

Met. Mus. Acc. No. G.E.530 

made in a mould, or in clay, if it is made by hand, the potter 
must bestow infinite care on the work, as both clay and 
plaster are very liable to break; and working on so small a 
thing as a handle is extremely fussy. The writer per¬ 
sonally found nothing so difficult in her whole pottery 
training as the making of handles. The best method of 
procedure in handwork is first to shape the handle roughly 





ATHENIAN POTTERY 


21 


while the clay is soft and plastic, then wait until it becomes 
leather hard, and finally refine it to the desired form and 
finish with modeling tools. In moulded work, the handle 
has to be cut out in plaster and then used for making the 
mould. When the handles are finally made, the3 r are 
joined to the vase by means of slip, in the same way that 
the sections were (fig. 27). As the handle is pressed into 



Fig. 27. Attachment of handles 


position the superfluous slip will of course spill over 
the edge, and this has to be carefully removed and the 
surface smoothed before the vase can be pronounced fin¬ 
ished. The vase is then put in the drying room so that all 
the water in the clay may evaporate. Only when it is per¬ 
fectly dry can it be fired in the kiln; otherwise it is liable 
to crack. 

The handles of Athenian vases show perhaps better than 
anything else the great skill and sense of beauty of the 
Athenian potter; and they will repay detailed study (cf. 
figs. 28-33). They are never, as so often on modern vases, 
detached pieces stuck on the vase as a kind of afterthought. 
Rather, they seem to grow out of the vase like branches 
from a tree, which gives them a wonderful, living quality. 









22 


THE CRAFT OF 



Fig. 28. Amphora in the Boston Museum 
Aee. No. 01.17 



Fig. 29. Hydria in the Metropolitan Museum 
Acc. No. 06.1021.190 











ATHENIAN POTTERY 


9/3 

-v O 



Fig - . 30. Kantharos in the Boston Museum 
Acc. No. 95.36 



Fig. 31. Volute krater in the Boston Museum 
Acc. No. 90.153 








24 


THE CRAFT OF 


Moreover, the place where they were attached, the size, and 
the curve have been carefully considered both from a prac¬ 
tical and from an aesthetic point of view. 



Fig. 32. Bell krater in the Metropolitan Museum 
Ace. No. 07.286.86 



Fig. 33. Kylix in the Metropolitan Museum 
Acc. No. G.R.1047 


Athenian handles are made by hand, not in moulds. 
Practically every pair of handles shows perceptible varia¬ 
tions such as are unavoidable in handwork and distinguish 
it from the mechanical products of moulding. The handles 








ATHENIAN POTTERY 


25 


were attached to the vase in leather-hard condition, and 
often the pressure entailed thereby resulted in a slight 
bulge on the inner side. This is particularly noticeable on 
kylikes where the walls of the pot were especially thin. 

It may be noted that the handles of Athenian vases are 
not finished off neatly in parts where they were not seen. 



Fig. 34. Detail of krater showing under part of handle left rough 

Met. Mus. Acc. No. 07.286.73 

For instance, the under parts of handles on column kraters 
are generally left quite rough (fig. 34). This fact, together 
with that already observed, that the insides of ampliorai 
and hydriai are usually unturned, shows that the Greeks, at 
least, had no such theories as those often held today that a 
work should be finished perfectly all over, even in places not 
ordinarily seen, and were quite willing to save trouble when 
possible. Many potters today bestow as much care on the 
inside of a narrow flask as on that of an open bowl. It is 
characteristic of the sense of proportion of the Greeks that 
their potters took infinite trouble with what was important 





20 


THE CRAFT OF 


—the shapes, the proportions, the decoration—but that they 
did not spend time and labor where it profited nobody. 


(2) BUILDING 

Compared to the wheelwork the building appears simple 
at first, but experience will soon show that it too needs con¬ 
siderable practice. Though the actual process has not the 
glamor and thrill associated with wheelwork, there is a 



Fig. 35. Making coils 


certain quality in a built vase which gives it a value of its 
own. Building is generally done nowadays by means of 
coils of clay (fig. 35), which must be a little thicker than 
the walls of the vase are to be and should be as uniform as 
possible. To make the foot of the vase, the end of one of 
these coils is laid in the center of a plaster bat and the rest 
coiled round in spiral line. To hide the joints the surface is 
rubbed over with the fingers on both sides. In making the 
walls of the vase a coil is used for each round and the 
superfluous clay pinched off, every new coil being begun at 
a new point. The whole surface, inside and outside, is 



ATHENIAN POTTERY 


27 


again smoothed by rubbing with the fingers, using very lit¬ 
tle water in the process. Only about three coils should be 
worked in at a time and then left to harden before new 
coils are added. In building up a certain shape it is best to 
use a templet of cardboard or plaster, to be sure that the 
profile of the vase is followed out correctly. To give the 
required finish at the end, modeling tools as well as further 
rubbing with the fingers are required. 

With this process in mind it is easy to distinguish between 
built and wheel-made pottery among the Greek wares. In 
the built pottery, however careful the work, there is always 
a certain unevenness of outline—which indeed gives it some 
of its charm. Unlike the moderns, the Greeks did not con¬ 
tinue to build pottery after the invention of the wheel. Nat¬ 
urally the general adoption of the wheel was not synchro¬ 
nous in all ceramic centers. It was used considerably earlier 
in Crete, for instance, than in Cyprus. But when once its 
convenience was thoroughly realized, the slower and more 
monotonous method was entirely dropped. Among Athe¬ 
nian black-figured and red-figured vases there are no built 
pieces. 

(3) MOULDING 

The process of moulding vases is the one most in use 
nowadays, for the simple reason that when once the required 
mould has been made the production of any number of 
vases is a rapid and easy task. But though commercially 
favored, this method is looked down upon by the artistic 
potter as being purely mechanical, and there is no doubt 
that a moulded vase has all the characteristics of machine 
work. 

The material used for moulds nowadays is plaster. The 
clay can either be poured into a mould in slip form or 
pressed into a mould while soft and plastic. In the former 
process the mould or moulds are made in two or more pieces, 
which fit closely together leaving an opening at the top. 


28 


THE CRAFT OF 


By pouring the clay slip into the opening, leaving it to 
harden a little, and then pouring out again what has not 
hardened, a hollow vase is formed. After due shrinkage 
the mould is carefully removed from the vase (fig. 36). 
The same mould can be used indefinitely for making vases 
of the same shape; it has only to be dried between one use 



Fig. 36. Vase poured in a mould 


and the next. Handles can be produced in the same way 
and then attached. 

In pressing clay into moulds each part of the mould is 
used separately, except where only one mould is required, as 
in the case of an open bowl or tile. When the clay has been 
carefully pressed into every part of the mould, it is left to 
harden, and then, upon shrinkage, can be easily separated. 
If the vase has been pressed in several pieces, the parts 
must be carefully joined and the seams effaced as neatly as 
possible. 

The Greek potter did not use moulding as a labor-saving 
device. He employed it only where the work demanded it, 




ATHENIAN POTTERY 


29 


as in the Athenian plastic ware. Here we sometimes even 
find the same mould used several times, as in the group of a 
negro and a crocodile of which chance has preserved us at 
least five replicas 1 ; but the number of such repetitions is not 
great and certainly would not indicate mass production. 

The material of Greek moulds was burnt clay. That the 
Athenian plastic vases were pressed into moulds rather than 
poured can be seen from the fact that the insides of these 



Fig. 37. Inside of moulded vase 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. 06.1021.205 

vases are rough and show finger-marks (cf. fig. 37). The 
joints of the two parts are clearly visible on many examples 
(cf. fig. 38). Often the lip was thrown separately on the 
wheel and attached. 

FIRING THE VASES 

Production of Temperature. 

In the fire the great miracle takes place and the dry clay, 
most friable and perishable of materials, becomes one of the 
most durable. This is accomplished by the softening of the 

1 Cf. Buschor, Miinchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, 1919, I/II, 

pp. 1 ff. 




THE CRAFT OF 


30 

feldspar grains which cement the whole together and thus 
form a dense mass. To produce the temperature at which 
this phenomenon takes place two things are necessary, fuel 
and draught, the former supplying the carbon, the latter 
the oxygen. The liberation of the carbon in the fuel and 
its union with the oxygen of the air develop combustion, 
during which heat is generated. Combustion can be com¬ 
plete or incomplete. It is complete when there is an excess 
of air and the carbon can combine with two molecules of 



Fig. 38. Vase showing joint of two parts of mould 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. 06.1021.203 

oxygen to form carbon dioxide (C0 2 ). This condition is 
called oxidation. It is incomplete when there is not enough 
air and the carbon can get only one molecule of oxygen, 
forming carbon monoxide (CO). This condition is called 
reduction. Carbon monoxide, being very hungry for oxy¬ 
gen, will try to extract it from whatever source it can. If 
ferric oxide (Fe 2 0 3 ) is present in the clay—which is the 
case in red clay—the carbon monoxide will take one mole¬ 
cule of oxygen from it and convert it into ferrous oxide 






(C0 + Fe 2 0 8 = C0 a + 2Fe0). The important feature 
in this process is that ferric oxide is red and will make the 
clay burn red; but ferrous oxide (FeO) is black and will 
give the clay a blackish color. If no ferric oxide is present 
in the clay, that is, if the clay is not a red clay, then reduc- 



Fig. 39. Open kiln 


tion has no effect on the color of the clay and can be freely 
used. In Europe potters regularly burn under reducing 
conditions, while in America the general practice is to burn 
under oxidizing conditions. When the draught in the kiln 
is faulty, partial reduction will often occur, and many 
faults in the burning, especially in the glazes, are attribu¬ 
table to this cause. 





32 


THE CRAFT OF 


We shall see presently how important is a knowledge of 
these chemical changes during the process of firing when we 
come to consider the defects on Greek vases caused by 
injuries in the firing (cf. pp. 44 ff.). 

Types of kilns. 

There are two chief types of kiln construction in use 
today: (1) the open kiln, in which the flame passes through 



Fig. 40. Muffle kiln with biscuit ware 


the kiln chamber (fig. 39) ; (2) the muffle kiln, in which the 
flame passes around the chamber and not through it (fig. 
40). In the open kiln the ware either comes in direct con¬ 
tact with the flame, or is stacked in saggers, i. e., boxes made 
of fire clay fitting one on top of the other (fig. 41). The 
muffle kiln is, so to speak, one large sagger, and the ware is 






ATHENIAN POTTERY 


33 


stacked on shelves. The draught in the kiln can be either 
an up draught or a down draught; in either case the air 
supply, as well as the fuel supply, must be under control, 
so that the combustion shall be as desired. The draught 
can be regulated by means of dampers, the fuel by attention 



Fig. 41. Open kiln showing saggers 


to the burners. An arched top is an advantage, for it 
imparts greater strength—an important item considering 
the strain to which the kiln is subjected—and it facilitates 
the circulation of the heat. Coal, wood, gas, or kerosene oil 
can be used for fuel. Of these, oil and gas are now the 
most popular; coal and wood are rapidly coming into dis¬ 
use on account of the greater labor they entail. 








THE CRAFT OF 


34 


Packing the kiln. 

In packing the kiln the ware is stacked as closely as pos¬ 
sible for economical reasons, so that as much as possible 
shall be accomplished in one firing. In biscuit firing the 
ware can be placed so that it touches (fig. 40) ; in glaze 
firing the pieces must be separated (fig. 42) both from one 



Fig. 42. Muffle kiln with glazed ware 


another and from the bottom of the saggers or shelves on 
which they stand, since the melted glaze is apt to run. 
Glazed pieces are therefore generally placed on stilts made of 
burnt clay, and the marks of these stilts will often show on 
the bottoms of the vases. 

That the chief features of modern and Athenian kilns 
were similar is clear from an examination of the ancient 
representations of kilns (cf. figs. 72-81 and pp. 76 ff.). How 
closely the ware was sometimes stacked is clearly seen in 
fig. 80. The fuel used by the Greeks was probably wood 
and charcoal. 








ATHENIAN POTTERY 


35 


Almost all modern pottery is twice fired; once for the 
conversion of the clay into terracotta or biscuit, and the 
second time for the glaze. To glaze unbiscuited ware is a 
delicate business, and the risk of glazing a piece of raw 
clay is considered larger than the trouble of burning it a 
second time. It is done occasionally when very tough clay 
is used, for instance, in kitchen crocks and in stoneware; in 
that case it is best to apply the glaze when the clay is in 
leather-hard condition, for then the absorption is less. 
More than the two regular firings are often used for cor¬ 
recting mistakes in glazing, for additional coats of glaze, 
and for decorating the ware. 

Firing. 

Different wares and different glazes require different 
temperatures. Thus porcelain and stoneware are fired to 
much higher temperatures than ordinary pottery, and salt 
and alkaline glazes need a higher fire to mature than the 
ordinary lead glazes. When the required temperature has 
been reached—which nowadays is determined either by 
means of a pyrometer or with the help of pyrometric cones 
which melt at a given temperature and which are watched 
through a spy-hole (cf. fig. 40 where the cones are set up 
opposite the spy-hole in the door, and fig. 42 where the cones 
have melted)—the fire is gradually extinguished and the 
kiln left to cool slowly. Twelve hours for the firing and 
twelve for cooling is a rough estimate for the firing of an 
ordinary kiln. It is important not to hurry the process of 
cooling, as a too rapidly cooling fire may crack the ware or 
affect the glaze injuriously. 

The Greeks fired their pottery at a considerably lower 
temperature than potters do today. It seems to have been 
about 960° centigrade (corresponding to about cone 010) 
since any increase over this temperature causes a change 
in the color of the clay together with an additional contrac- 


36 


THE CRAFT OF 


tion. Mr. Tonks lias made the ingenious suggestion that, 
950° and 1065° being the melting points of silver and gold 
respectively, the Greeks may have used these metals in the 
same way as the modern potters use cones, to regulate the 
heat of the kiln. 1 

When the kiln is finally opened comes the exciting 
moment of seeing what the fire has done with one’s prod¬ 
ucts. In taking out the contents of the kiln, gloves and 
sticks are often useful for handling ware that is still too hot 
to touch. Invariably there will be surprises—what one has 
expected to be a great success often turns out a failure, and 
what one thought little of may become a rare thing of 
beauty. In the biscuit firing the adventures of the pot are 
comparatively few; it may crack or sag or warp, but as a 
rule the expected shape is maintained. But in the glaze 
firing so many elements enter in that even an experienced 
potter can never be sure of the result. The color may turn 
out a different shade from that desired; the glaze ma} r 
unexpectedly be matt (dull) or too glossy; it may blister 
or peel or crack; it may be too thin or too thick. Such 
defects are almost invariably due to faulty composition of 
the clay or the glaze or to the conditions of firing. The} r 
can often be remedied by further glazings and firings; but 
quite often a pot on which much time and labor have been 
bestowed is hopelessly ruined. A good potter, however, will 
soon learn to bear such mishaps philosophically; and it is 
certainly true that one often learns much more from fail¬ 
ures than from successes. Moreover, the element of uncer¬ 
tainty lends spice to the craft. 

A careful consideration of the modern processes of firing 
pottery described above will help us to settle the problems 
connected with the firing of Greek vases—for the action of 
fire on clay remains the same even though the kilns in use 

1 Cf. American Journal of Archaeology, XII, second series, 1908, p. 
421. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


37 

by the Greeks were probably somewhat more primitive than 
now. 

The chief problems which confront us in Athenian pot¬ 
tery are (1) the number of firings, (2) the interpretation 
of defects on Greek vases as injuries in the firing. 



Fig. 43. Detail of amphora showing preliminary sketch 
Met. Mus. Aec. No. 06.1021.114 

Number of firings. 

Was Athenian pottery once or twice fired? 1 That is, 
was it decorated in leather-hard or in biscuit condition? 
This has been one of the most debated questions in Greek 
ceramics. Archaeologists often assume offhand a number 

1<( Twice fired ’ ’ technically means, as already explained (p. 35), 
once for biscuit, another time for glaze; the glazing itself may have 
necessitated several firings, but the piece would still be spoken of as 
twice fired. 





38 


THE CRAFT OF 


of firings, 1 but without stating any evidence or squarely 
facing the problems involved. Briefly, the arguments for 



Fig. 44. Design on red-figured krater 
(a) Preliminary sketch (b) Completed painting 

Furtwangler u. Eeichhold, Griecliische Vasenmalerei, I, pi. YII 


and against are as follows. As is well known, a large pro¬ 
portion of red-figured vases of good period show a prelim- 

1 Cf. e.g. Walters, op. cit., pp. 221, 222, and Herford, op. cit., pp. 13, 
14. Reichhold, op. cit., p. 152, felt convinced there was only one firing. 











ATHENIAN POTTERY 


inary, colorless sketch for the design traced with a blunt 1 
instrument directly on the clay (cf. figs. 43-44). The 
smooth grooves of this sketch show beyond doubt that the 
sketch was made while the clay was in leather-hard condi¬ 
tion, that is, before firing. If the vase had been fired, even 
at a low temperature, the sketch would have had to be 
scratched in with a sharp tool, and would have left a 
ragged, not a smooth line. 2 Now it is not a natural pro¬ 
cedure for an artist to make a rough sketch for his design, 
and then to leave his vase to be fired before completing his 
work. Furthermore, an examination of the incised lines on 
the black-figured vases—which clearly go over the black 
glaze—shows also that these lines must have been made 
while the clay was still leather hard. The ragged edge of 
the glaze along the incisions has sometimes been thought to 
indicate that they were made after firing. But just this 
effect is produced by cutting through dry glaze on unfired 
clay; and it would have been very difficult to attain the 
required delicacy, swing, and smoothness by incision into 
hard, fired clay. Any one who will try the experiment will 
soon become convinced of this. 3 So that, for the black- 
figured period at least, this evidence points to a once-fired 
pottery. 

On the other hand, it might be urged that if we assume 
that the decoration was executed in leather-hard condition, 
the vase painters whom we see depicted on Greek vases 
should be handling their pots with considerable care, and 
that this is hardly conveyed in the representations. On the 
Boston fragment, for instance, the painter is holding a 

1 Occasionally a toothed instrument seems to have been used; as on 
the pyxis, No. 06.1117, in the Metropolitan Museum. 

2 Archaeologists ’ accounts are very misleading here, for some even 
assume that vases are in leather-hard condition after the first firing. 
(Cf. Herford, Handbook of Greek Vase Painting, p. 12.) 

3 E. Pottier has come to the same conclusion; cf. his Catalogue of 
the Louvre Vases, III, p. 674. 


40 


THE CRAFT OF 


kylix by its slender foot without any apparent fear of break¬ 
ing it (fig. 67). And whoever painted the scene knew 
what he was doing, for he was in the act of decorating such 
a kylix himself. However, if the clay used by the Athen¬ 
ians was of a tough variety, 1 this would, I have been told 
by potters, be a perfectly possible procedure; and experi¬ 
ments made with imported Athenian clay 2 bore this out to 
an astonishing degree. Vases made of this clay could be 
handled quite freely in leather-hard condition. So that if 
the Athenian potter of the fifth century used similar clay 
to that of his present-day descendant, his handling of these 
pots on the vase paintings would be perfectly justified in 
the leather-hard state. 

There is, moreover, evidence which seems to settle this 
question beyond dispute. On a number of the Athenian 
vases there are dents such as can only have occurred while 
the vase was still in a leather-hard state. The mark of the 
object contact with which caused the dent is invariably over 
the black glaze (cf. fig. 45), showing clearly that the glaze 
must have been applied in leather-hard condition. 3 In 
some cases we find still adhering in the dents a little burnt 

1 The clay of Reichhold ’s pot, which he says could be dropped on 
the floor without appreciable damage (Furtwangler und Reichhold, 
Griechisehe Vasenmalerei, I, p. 152), must have been very tough indeed. 
Potters I have asked have never encountered clay quite as tough as 
that. The leather-hard vases I have handled were fit only for the 
dust bin when they fell on the floor—a not unusual event when learn¬ 
ing to turn. 

2 1 wish here to acknowledge the great kindness of A. J. B. Wace, 
director of the British School of Athens, who went to much trouble in 
sending me this clay. The clay sent is that used by the Athenian 
potters today. It is a mixed clay, composed of red earth from 
Chalandri and white earth from Koukouvaones. 

3 Cf. also Nos. 06.1021.114, 07.286.78, 17.230.13 in the Metropoli¬ 
tan Museum, and other instances quoted by Reichhold in Furtwangler 
u. Reichhold, Griechisehe Vasenmalerei, I, p. 152. If, as Reichhold 
assumes, the vases were actually placed in the kiln leather hard, they 
must have been allowed to dry for some days in the kiln before firing; 
otherwise they w r ould have cracked. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


41 


clay, apparently from another vase contact with which 
caused the accident. Here it is probable that the accident 
was caused not while the vase was leather hard, but when 
red hot in the kiln, at least in those instances, as in the 
black-figured amphora in the Metropolitan Museum 1 (fig. 
46), where the glaze shows a rough fracture due to the sep- 



Fig. 45. Detail of hydria showing dent with mark over black glaze 

Met. Mus. Acc. No. 17.230.15 


aration of the two pieces which had stuck together; for this 
fractured edge would have become fused and smooth upon 
subsequent firing. 2 

The fragments of unfinished vases which have been found 
from time to time 3 have been used as evidence to prove sev¬ 
eral glaze fires; for they show fired vases at a definite stage 

1 Cf. also Furtwangler u. Reichhold, loc. cit. 

2 This is Mr. Binns ’s explanation. 

3 Five are listed by Hartwig, Jahrbuch des deutschen arch. Insti- 
tuts, XIV, 1899, p. 164, note 21, one in Athens, one in Sevres, one in 
Wurzburg, one in Berlin, one in Bonn. A sixth piece is a fragmentary 
kylix in the Metropolitan Museum, No. 11.212.9, and a seventh one, 
the cover of a toilet box, in the British Museum, Room of Greek and 
Roman Life, No. 426. 







42 


THE CRAFT OF 


in the glazing, the outlines and inner markings painted, but 
the background not yet filled in. Must we, then, suppose 
that it was the regular practice—at least in the later red- 
figured period to which all the unfinished pieces belong— 
to fire before and after the painting of the background? 
It is difficult to see what would be gained by the process. 



Fig. 46. Detail of amphora showing dent with clay from 
other body still adhering 

Met. Mus. Aec. No. G.R.530 

If the pottery were fired before any decoration was applied, 
there would be the advantage of safer handling of the ware; 
but to have an extra firing with the decoration more than 
half completed gives no apparent gain and there is the dis¬ 
tinct disadvantage of the extra expense of firing. 

The unfinished kylix in the collection of the Metropolitan 
Museum may shed light on this problem (fig. 47). It is 
not so fragmentary as the pieces in the other museums, 
being complete except for portions of the rim. The foot is 
very roughly turned (fig. 48), very different from the aver¬ 
age kylix foot, as if it had not been worth while to spend 




ATHENIAN POTTERY 


43 


much time on this product. The decoration itself is also 
quite cursory. This suggests that the piece was merely a 
test, ’ ’ such as potters use often nowadays for making 



Fig. 47. Unfinished kylix 
Met. Mus. Ace. No. 11.212.9 



Fig. 48. Foot of unfinished kylix 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. 11.212.9 

trials of their clay bod}", or their glaze, or their kiln. The 
kylix is, as a matter of fact, too soft fired, and the glaze has 
turned reddish in parts. May we be permitted the guess 






44 


THE CRAFT OF 


that this was a trial to test out a new kiln? It is only a 
possibilit}^ and there are many others. The important point 
is that the evidence of the unfinished fragments does not 
make it necessary to assume more than one glaze firing. 

The probability, therefore, is that Athenian pottery is 
once fired, 1 all ornamentation—both glaze and accessory 
colors 2 —being applied while the vase was in leather-hard 
condition; for in the case of the accessory colors also there 
would have been no advantage in an additional firing. 


Injuries in the firing. 

The action of the fire on the potter’s products was appar¬ 
ently as much an open question in Greek times as it is now. 
Practical experience must have gone a long way then as 
today; but full control could not be achieved. In forming 
an estimate of what proportion of the pottery was spoiled 
in the kiln we must remember that in our museums we are 
apt to encounter the survival of the fittest—what the potter 
considered worth preserving, what the Greek client deemed 
adequate to his need, and what the modern museum curator 
considers good enough for exhibition. But even in this 
selection we meet with a number of kiln mishaps, which 
apparently were so common that they were hardly noticed. 
When our eyes have become trained to observe such things, 
we shall note that in any collection of Greek vases there are 
many cases of warping and sagging, especially in the over¬ 
hanging lips of the hydriai and amphorai. 3 There are 

1 An interesting parallel is furnished by Chinese porcelain for which, 
Mr. Bosch Reitz tells me, there is clear evidence that it is once fired. 

2 It is sometimes assumed that the accessory colors—purple and 
white—were not fired and that this is the reason why they are less well 
preserved and dull instead of shiny like the black glaze. That they 
were fired is shown by the discoloration of the black glaze beneath the 
white or purple. They are neither shiny nor durable for the simple 
reason that they are not a glaze but earth colors. 

3 Cf. e.g. No. 06.1021.114, in the Metropolitan Museum. 



ATHENIAN POTTERY 


45 


many cracks and dents, 1 many faults in the glaze. A 

very conspicuous fault is the change of the clay from a pink 

* 

to a grayish color. 2 Archaeologists often explain this as 
due to over-firing. 3 The real reason is not that the tem¬ 
perature has been too high, but that the clay has been sub¬ 
jected in the kiln or in the funeral pyre, to fumes the car¬ 
bon of which has been absorbed by the clay. In other 
words, there was either reduction and the red ferric oxide in 
the clay has been changed to black ferrous oxide (cf. pp. 
30 f.), or the clay has absorbed the black carbon physically. 
When controlled, this change is very useful to the potter 
for obtaining certain effects. Thus bucchero pottery is 
simply red clay fired under completely reducing conditions; 
and in the Vasiliki mottled ware some carbonaceous pigment 
like tar was probably placed on the spots which were 
intended to be black, whereupon the carbon would be 
absorbed by the clay and the iron reduced. 4 

The commonest injury to the glaze in the fire is its change 
into a brilliant red instead of the intended black. This can 
be observed on many vases, sometimes as a large spot (cf. 
fig. 49), other times as a less clearly defined variegation/’ 
The cause was irregularity of fire, a jet of air passing 
through the kiln coming in contact with parts of the vases. 

1 Cf. e.g. Nos. G. R. 530, 06.1021.82, 06.1021.114, etc., in the Metro¬ 
politan Museum, and No. 379 (Salle G) as a conspicuous example in 
the Louvre. 

2 Cf. e.g. Nos. 07.286.47, 07.286.81, and C. R. 541 in the Metropoli¬ 
tan Museum. 

3 Cf. e.g. Reichhold in Furtwangler u. Reichhold, Griechische 
Vasenmalerei, I, p. 153. 

4 This is Mr. Binns ’s explanation. He does not consider that the 
accidental piling together of glowing coals could account for the 
carefully designed effects in the Vasiliki ware; so that Mr. Seager’s 
ingenious theory (cf. Hawes, etc., Gournia, p. 50) would have to he 
given up. 

fi Cf. e.g. 11.212.7, 12.336.1, G. R. 54, G. R. 1229, 06.1021.120, 
06.1021.191, 12.229.15, etc., in the Metropolitan Museum. 


THE CRAFT OF 


40 

In other words, there was an excess of oxygen (or the 
reverse of reduction) which turned the black ferrous oxide 
of the glaze into red ferric oxide. 1 



Fig. 49. Black-glazed ampliora with large red spot on one side 

Met. Mus. Acc. No. G.R.607 


1 This explanation is also that offered by Reichhold in Furtwangler 
n. Reichhold, Griecliische Vasenmalerei, I, p. 153. It is to this same 
cause that I should be inclined to attribute Reichhold’s 11 Lagerringe, ’ ’ 
round red spots or black spots surrounded by red rings (op. cit., p. 
154). Supports such as he describes which came into direct contact 
with the glaze are inconceivable; the glaze would have stuck to them 
and serious injury resulted. Furthermore, Athenian vases must have 
been placed in the kiln standing on their feet, and for this purpose the 
under surfaces of the feet are left unglazed so as to prevent the glaze 
from sticking. If placed in the positions Reichhold suggests, the 
vases would have been apt to w r arp, and no potter would run such risks. 




ATHENIAN POTTERY 


47 


Such red spots caused by jets of air coming in contact 
with the vases must not be confused with the very similar 
red spots which are due to the wearing off of the black 
glaze and the exposure underneath it of the ochre-tinted 
clay (cf. p. 58). Examination with a magnifying glass will 
show the difference: in one case the red is part of and 
level with the black glaze, in the other it is on a layer 
beneath the black glaze; in the former case the red will 
not come off when rubbed, in the latter it will. 


GLAZING 

Besides shaping and firing a vase, a potter must under¬ 
stand the art of glazing, to many the most alluring part of 
the craft; this comprises both the preparation of the glaze 
and its application to the pot. A glaze is a chemical com¬ 
pound, known as a silicate, which upon firing becomes a 
glassy substance. It has three chief ingredients: (1) an 
oxide of lead, of lime, of alkali, etc., which forms the 
foundation of the glaze; (2) alumina or boron oxide, which 
regulates the behavior of the glaze in the fire; and (3) 
silica, which controls the fitting of the glaze to the body. 
Modern glazes are divided into two chief categories: lead 
glazes and leadless glazes. Of these the former are by far 
the more numerous; but alkaline glazes, tin enamels, etc., 
are also used, especially in studio potteries. 

In the preparation of a glaze the ingredients have first 
to be weighed out carefully in the required proportions; 
the mixture has then to be ground with water and sieved; 
and when the right thickness is attained (usually about the 
consistency of cream), the glaze is applied to the vase, 
which should first be soaked in water to saturation to pre¬ 
vent too rapid absorption. Gum tragacanth is used as a 
binder to make the glaze stick. 

The glaze can be applied in various ways—by dipping 
(fig. 50), by pouring (fig. 51), by the use of the brush (fig. 


48 


THE CEAFT OF 


52), or by spraying (fig. 53), the method depending chiefly 
on the individual choice of the potter. To apply a glaze 
properly to the clay body is a great art, and upon it, as 
much as on the preparation of the glaze, final success 
depends. The glaze mixtures when applied are whitish or 



Fig. 50. Method of glazing: dipping 


grayish; it is only after firing that they assume the wonder¬ 
ful range of colors which delight us so much today. 

The Athenian potter had no ambition to produce brilliant 
color effects in glazing. He was content with the one 
variety which he had brought to perfection—a thin, lumin¬ 
ous glaze of a deep, velvety black color and of astonishing 



ATHENIAN POTTERY 


49 


durability. After generations of experiments we cannot 
yet say that we can successfully imitate it. Its composi¬ 
tion is, however, no longer a secret. It has been shown by 
analysis and synthesis that the chief component parts of 
the glaze are an alkali (potash or soda), a clay (which 



Fig. 51. Method of glazing: pouring 

would contain some silica such as flint naturally), and fer¬ 
rous oxide. 1 The exact proportion of these parts, and 

1 Cf. Salvetat in Brongniart, Traite des arts ceramiques, I, p. 550; 
and Tonks, Black Glaze on Greek Vases, American Journal of Archae¬ 
ology, XII, second series, 1908, pp. 420 ft. Mr. Binns in a series of 
experiments has come to the same conclusion. 

















50 


THE CRAFT OF 


above all the manipulation of the glaze are still unknown. 
At least, nothing completely corresponding to the Greek 
glaze has as yet been produced, though Mr. Tonks 1 and 
especially Mr. Binns 2 have come very near it. Whether the 
secret lies in the proportion, in the medium used for binder, 3 
or in some undiscovered element one cannot tell. It is only 



Fig. 52. Method of glazing: use of the brush 

certain that when the discovery is made, as doubtless it must 
be, it will be of great import both to archaeologists and to 
modern potters. 

The glaze was, as I have endeavored to show (cf. pp. 37 ff.), 
applied to the vase in leather-hard condition. At that stage 
the clay still contains enough water to prevent too rapid 
absorption, and the glaze, therefore, runs in an easjb flowing 

1 Cf. American Journal of Archaeology, XII, second series, 1908, pp. 
423 f. 

2 Mr. Binns’s experiments are as yet unpublished. 

3 Under Mr. Binns’s direction I tried gum arabic, honey, water 
glass, glue, white of egg, glycerine, and oil as binders, but none gave 
complete satisfaction. 








ATHENIAN POTTERY 


51 


manner. 1 To carry out his work the painter could take his 
time, for, as we have seen (cf. p. 16), a vase can be kept 
leather hard for an indefinite period by the simple device 
of placing it in a damp box, that is, an air-tight case with 
a pan of water at the bottom. 2 

How did the Greek painter apply the glaze to his pottery? 
We know that on the broader surfaces the brush was used, 



Fig. 53. Method of glazing: spraying 

Cox, Pottery for Artists, Craftsmen and Teachers, p. Ill, fig. 51 

for brush marks are clearly visible in many cases. 3 When 
possible the backgrounds and horizontal bands were painted 
while the piece was rotating on the wheel; where a panel 
had to be reserved, the irregularity of free-hand brush work 

1 H. B. Walters in his Ancient Pottery, I, p. 212, says that the 
glaze runs best on a surface already baked. As a matter of fact, to 
make glaze run at all on the baked surface, the biscuit has to be soaked 
in water. 

- Reichhold in Furtwangler u. Reichhold, Griechische Vasenmalerei, 
I, p. 152, forgets this when he argues that since the decorations were 
applied on leather-hard clay they must have been executed within a 
few days. 

3 Some archaeologists even claim that they have noticed hairs of 
brushes in the glaze. It is, however, impossible that these are hairs 
from the brushes with which the glaze was painted, as they would 
have burned up in the fire to which the glaze was subjected. 

















52 


THE CRAFT OF 


can readily be observed (fig. 54). For the ‘‘flat” glaze 
lines, in both the figured scenes and the ornamental motives, 
smaller brushes were employed. But what was the instru¬ 
ment which produced the famous “relief” lines, that is, 
those fine lines which stand out perceptibly from the sur- 



Fig. 54. Hydria showing brush marks 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. 11.212.7 

face and which were used for the contours and inner mark¬ 
ings of the figures during the best red-figured period (fig. 
55) ? The quality of these lines has been justly admired by 
all who have studied them and it has been thought that the 
instrument used had much to do with the result. 1 After 
a number of experiments with fine brushes, single bristles, 

1 Cf. e.g. the discussions by Hartwig, Jalirbuch d. Instituts, XIV, 
1899, pp. 147 ff.; Reichhold, in Furtwangler u. Reichliold, Griechisclie 
Vasenmalerei, I, Text, pp. 148 and 230; Tonks, American Journal of 
Archaeology, XII, second series, 1908, p. 425; Walters, Ancient Pot¬ 
tery, I, pp. 227 ff. 






ATHENIAN POTTERY 


53 


reeds, feathers, pens, etc., I have come to the conclusion that 
it is of little avail to discuss the instrument used before we 
can employ in our experiments a glaze identical with the 
Greek. For to get the wonderful flow of the Greek line, the 
glaze must run much more easily than any imitation black 



Fig. 55. Detail of psykter showing relief line 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. 10.210.18 


glaze which we have so far produced. The groove which 
runs down the middle of the relief lines hardly affords a 
clue; for slight pressure of any instrument seems to pro¬ 
duce such a result. 


RED OCHRE WASH 

In three statements of ancient writers the addition of red 







54 


THE CRAFT OF 


ochre to Athenian pottery is referred to. 1 In Pliny, Nat¬ 
ural History, XXXV, 152, we read: Boutades inventum est 
rubricam addere aut ex rubra creta fingere, “ Boutades first 
added red ochre, or made pottery of red * clay. ” Isidorus, 
Etymologiae, XX, iv, 3, speaks of pottery vases having been 
first invented at Samos and then adds: Postea inventum et 
rubricam addere et ex rubra creta fingere, <k a later inven¬ 
tion was to add red ochre and to make pottery of red clay. ’' 
Suidas in his lexicon, where he describes Cape Kolias as a 
place in Attica where pottery is made, says that the clay 
from that region is the best, and adds : oWe kcu fianTtcrOaL two 
rrjs /jllXtov, ‘ 1 so that it is also dyed with red ochre. ’ ’ 

Archaeologists have assumed that this red ochre was 
mixed with the clay and that to it was due the deeper color 
of Athenian ware as compared, for instance, with the 
geometric. Thus in practically all our books on vases the 
preparation of the clay for the manufacture of Athenian 
vases is described somewhat as follows: 1 ‘ The clay having 
been thoroughly purified and washed, was then kneaded 
and brought to a consistency suitable for shaping it on the 
wheel. It was at this stage that other substances, chiefly a 
red earth (ochre=/xi'Aros), were worked in with the clay to 
deepen the color.” First of all, it should be noted that if 
ochre is to be added to the clay it must be done long before 
the kneading stage, otherwise the red ochre will of course not 
mix evenly. The best time would be when the clay is dry, 
so that a definite proportion could be weighed out. But that 
is too obvious to need discussion. The question is, Does 
the addition of red ochre materially change the color of the 
clay? It may be interesting in this connection to record 
my experience in the matter. About three years ago I was 
asked to speak at a convention of modern potters meeting 
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on the subject of Greek 
vases. I thought that these potters would probably be 

1 For full quotations of these statements cf. pp. 97, 98. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


55 


specially interested in the technical side of Greek ceramics, 
and with the courage of ignorance I described in detail our 
theories regarding the manufacture of Greek pottery. It 
was the questions which the potters asked me afterwards 
which convinced me that it was time I went to a pottery 
school. One of my statements which aroused considerable 
interest was this theory that red ochre was added as an 
ingredient to deepen the color of red clay. Several men 
came to me after the talk and said, “I don’t see why the 
Greeks did that; for by just slightly raising the tempera¬ 
ture they could easily have deepened the color.” I had no 
answer then, but when I went to the pottery school I 
thought I should take nothing for granted, but convince 
myself by making my own experiments. So I made some 
tests, adding certain percentages of ochre to see how it 
would affect the color. Apparently the ochre had little 
effect, and the pieces with and without ochre were about 
equally pink when they came out of the kiln. I then 
burned some pieces without any ochre to a little higher 
temperature and the red was considerably deepened. I was 
quite convinced then that the ochre added as an ingredient 
to the clay would not have the desired result; besides, if 
we needed further proof we might remember that analyses 
made of Athenian clav have shown no trace of ochre. 1 

What, then, do Pliny and Suidas mean when they speak 
of the addition of red ochre to Athenian pottery? A num¬ 
ber of archaeologists have observed from time to time that 
Athenian vases, especially of the late red-figured period, 
show traces of a reddish pigment applied over the surface. 
Reichholcl in his technical description of vases in Furt- 
wangler und Reichhold, Griechische Vasenmalerei, fre¬ 
quently refers to it as “rotliche Lasur. ” 2 Pottier ascribed 
it to a sort of varnish or lustre applied over the sur- 

1 Cf. John, Malerei der Alten, p. 173. 

2 Cf. e.g. vol. I, pp. 140, 145. 


5G 


THE CRAFT OF 


face of the decorated, fired vase which on decomposi¬ 
tion precipitated into a red deposit. 1 Walters thought 
that red ochre was rubbed on certain parts of the vase which 
had remained too pale after baking. 2 A detailed examina¬ 
tion of the vases in many European and American museums 
convinced me that the use of this red pigment was quite 
general throughout the red-figured period, and to a limited 
extent in the black-figured period. On a few vases it 
appears in excellent preservation. 3 The majority of red- 
figured vases of all periods 4 and a few of the black-figured 
vases 5 show traces of it. When it is not otherwise visible, 
it can often be detected in the slight depressions of the 
preliminary sketch, or under the handles, or on the under 
side of the foot. As the color comes off when rubbed with 
a damp cloth, it is not surprising that it is not better pre¬ 
served, after the extensive cleaning that most museum 
specimens have undergone. But the many traces which are 
still preserved can only be satisfactorily explained by assum¬ 
ing that it was the general practice—at least in the red- 
figured period—to apply a red pigment over the whole 
surface of the vase. 

In the light of this experience let us again examine what 
Pliny and Snidas say. Pliny’s statement is sufficiently 
vague to make any interpretation possible; but Suidas’ use 
of the word pdirrecrOai, ‘ ‘ to be dipped, ’ ’ is illuminating. The 
clay could not have been “dipped” in a powdery or liquid 

1 Cf. e.g. Pottier, Catalogue des vases antiques du Louvre, III, p. 682. 

2 Cf. e.g. Walters, Ancient Pottery, I, p. 218. 

3 Cf. e.g. in the Museum fiir Kleinkunst, Munich, the kylix with Dio¬ 
nysos by Exekias, No. 2044, and the Euphronios kylix, No. 2620. These 
give us an excellent idea of the original appearance of Athenian vases. 

4 Cf. especially in the British Museum, E178, E149, E282, E382; 
and in the Metropolitan Museum, G. R. 604, 07.286.73, 07.286.74, 
06.1021.108, 12.236.2, 07.286.65, G. R. 589, 06.1021.121, G. R. 573^ 
17.230.13, where extensive traces can still be seen. 

5 Cf. e.g. in the British Museum, B.439, B.516, B.592, B.446; Metro¬ 
politan Museum, 06.1021.56, G. R, 555. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


57 


state, the only way of having the ochre become an actual 
ingredient in the clay. The term fianTecrOai implies that 
the clay must have become a solid vase, in which case the 
ochre was applied only on its surface. Indeed Atlienaeus 
(480 E) uses the term f^airrecrOaL to signify the “glazing” or 
“silvering” of earthen vessels. So that literary testimon}^ 



Fig. 56. Detail of amphora showing diluted black glaze line (on arm) 
going over red ochre left in preliminary sketch line 

Met. Mus. Acc. No. 12.236.2 


seems to agree with the evidence of the vases themselves that 
the ochre was applied on the surface. At what stage, then, 
was this ochre added? Was it before or after the black 
glaze ? Careful examination has shown that it was previous 
to the glazing. When the black glaze is chipped off it gener¬ 
ally takes the surface too, so that instances of the red ochre 







58 


THE CEAFT OF 


showing underneath are not numerous; but there are nev¬ 
ertheless a number of undoubted examples. 1 An especially 
convincing instance is on an amphora in the Metropolitan 
Museum in which a diluted black glaze line goes clearly over 
traces of the red left in a preliminary sketch line (fig. 56). 
Furthermore, in many cases the glaze on the background 
surfaces has disintegrated and shows the red ochre beneath. 2 

Since the black glaze was probably applied to the leather- 
hard clay, the ochre wash must also have been added in 
that state. The leather-hard vase might have been dipped 
in an ochre solution or the ochre applied with a brush or 
rubbed into the surface as a powder. In order to make it 
adhere properly to the clay actual experiments have shown 
that by far the best results are obtained by giving the sur¬ 
face a good polish after the application of the ochre. The 
ochre is thereby actually incorporated with the clay and 
forms a good firm surface. If not so polished, it is pow¬ 
dery after firing and comes off easily. 

Experiments further showed that (1) red ochre applied 
in this manner on the red clay in leather-hard condition pro¬ 
duced an effect identical with the red ‘ ‘ wash ? ’ observable on 
the Athenian vases; (2) preliminary sketch lines engraved 
lightly with a blunt tool did not remove the ochre; (3) the 
ochre in no way interfered with the adhesion of the black 
glaze over it; (4) the ochre came off only a little at a time 
even when rubbed hard while wet. It is therefore onl}' dur¬ 
ing the long processes of wear and time that the red ochre 
application has worn off. But even when it has entirely 
disappeared, it has stained the clay a deeper color—namely, 
the orangey hues which we see now; for the actual color of 
the clay is lighter and pinker, as any fracture will show. 3 

1 Cf. e.g. British Museum, E.74, E.72, E.307, E.382, E.149, E.333. 

2 Such red spots must not be confused with those caused by excess of 
oxidation in the firing (cf. pp. 44 if.). 

3 Imported Athenian clay (cf. p. 40) fired to the temperature to which 
the ancient Greeks fired their pottery was so light and characterless in 
color that some process to deepen the hue would appear almost 
imperative. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


59 


Originally, however, w r e learn from our investigation, 
the red-figured Athenian vases had an even deeper and 
richer tint than they have now—approaching more nearly 
the color of copper. The general effect, therefore, must 
have been considerably more vivid than it is today, and to 
some this thought may not at first appeal. But we should 
remember that we are discovering also in other fields that 
the Greeks loved bright, intense color, not the faded tints 
that so many of their works present today. 

WERE ATHENIAN VASES MADE FOR EVERY-DAY USE? 

The theory has often been advanced that the painted 
black-figured and red-figured vases were made for decora¬ 
tion and for votive and funeral purposes, but not for 
actual use. Percy Gardner in his Grammar of Greek Art 
(p. 160) holds this view and gives as his reason that the 
painted vases were too fragile to be easily handled and 
too porous to contain liquid. Reichhold in Furtwangler 
und Reichhold, Griechische Vasenmalerei, Text, I, p. 82, 
and Skizzenbuch griechischer Meister, p. 10, is of the 
same opinion, and bases his assumption on the fact that 
a number of the vases show ancient rivet marks and could 
not therefore have served any practical purpose in such a 
condition; also that no ancient vases show signs of wear, 
which would have been unavoidable if they had been in 
daily use. Does our investigation of the technique of 
Athenian vases help to settle this question? Let us look 
first at the case in its broader aspects. 

Nobody can work long with Greek vases or other forms 
of Greek industrial art without being impressed with the 
wonderful combination of beauty and practical utility 
which these objects show. The Greek vases are not only 
finely proportioned, but each one is admirably adapted to 
its purpose. We need only try pouring from an oinochoe 
to see how easily the liquid flows without any danger of 


60 


THE CRAFT OF 


spilling; or from a lekytlios to see how the oil trickles 
through the narrow neck, drop by drop, or in a very thin 
stream, just right for cooking or the making of salad dress¬ 
ing. We need only drink from a kylix to realize how, 
contrary to expectations, it is an easy and delightful process 
—the little curve of the rim preventing the liquid from 
spilling down one’s cheeks. 1 We need only closely observe 
the handles of Greek vases to see how their positions, 
their curves, and above all their extraordinary solidity 
render them eminently practical. Moreover, the study of 
a hundred little details, the forms of the knobs on pyxides, 
the projections for holding the lids in place, the outward 
or inward curves of the lips, the substantial feet, all com¬ 
bine to form overpowering evidence that these vases 
were designed for actual use. It is only in isolated 
instances, such as the loutrophoroi which have no bottoms 
or the white lekythoi which have no connection between the 
neck and body, that this rule does not hold good. Such 
vases, however, belong to clearly defined classes evidently 
made as votive offerings or as tomb furniture. 

That the bulk of vases were made for votive purposes, 
there is no real evidence. Among the many sixth- and 
fifth-century inscriptions recording such offerings there 
are few relating to pottery vases. Nor is it conceivable 
that these vases were purely ornamental. We know that 
private houses in Athens were at that period excessively 
simple, consisting mostly of a courtyard and a few rooms 
opening on it, so that it is not likely that people sur¬ 
rounded themselves with a lot of useless ornaments; nor 
can we believe that in a period which, at least in the sixth 
century, was still one of strenuous endeavor, these vases 
were exported to all parts of the world merely as decora¬ 
tive bric-a-brac. Everything we know of Greek life at 

1 Many modern imitations of kylikes lack just this feature, which 
makes drinking out of them a very different story. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


G1 


that time points against such an assumption. Moreover, 
if the Greeks had such decorations in their homes we should 
expect to see, depicted in the vase paintings, cabinets or 
shelves with vases displayed on them; instead, when vases 
are shown, they are invariably in actual use, or hanging on 
a nail on the wall, ready for immediate service. 1 

There is another consideration. Even if, from our 
modern point of view, we may hesitate to believe that a 
beautiful cup of Euphronios was used merely as a drink¬ 
ing vessel, where are we to draw the line? Any one who 
has worked in a museum or lias excavated on fifth-century 
sites knows that besides the selected specimens exhibited 
in museum cases there are a large number of inferior exam¬ 
ples, hastily decorated, which could hardly have been dis¬ 
played as ornaments, but which are open to the same 
objections raised against the vases of better workmanship. 

And now let us examine these objections. First, the 
vases are supposed to be too porous to contain liquid. The 
fineness of the clay, the polish which was imparted to it, 
and perhaps the application of the ochre tended to reduce 
this porosity somewhat. In the course of time the deposit 
left by wine and oil would still further close the pores. In 
any case, experiments show that Athenian vases do hold 
liquids without any difficulty. The unglazed portions 
become damp, and a damp mark is left on the table if the 
foot is not glazed; but in the days before highly polished 
furniture there was no strong objection to that, and there 
was on the other hand a very real advantage. For it allows 
a certain amount of evaporation which would tend to cool 
the liquid—a very desirable thing in a warm climate 

1 Cf. Antike Denkmaler, II, pi. 8; Journal of Hellenic Studies, 
XII, 1891, pi. XX, and XXXII, 1912, pi. VII; Furtwangler u. Reicli- 
hold, Griechische Vasenmalerei, I, pis. 19 and 24, III, text, p. 19, fig. 
7; Notor, La femme dans l’antiquite, p. 253; Wiener Vorlegebliitter, 
1889, pi. XII (on Eicoroni cista) ; Hartwig, Griechische Meister- 
schalen, pi. LXVII, 3a and 4, pi. LXIX, 2a-c; Daremberg et Saglio, 
Dictionnaire IV, part 2, p. 1160, fig. 6252; etc. 


62 


THE CRAFT OF 


without a regulated ice supply. Any one who has tried 
the experiment of keeping water in an unglazed jar in a 
warm room has found that the evaporation keeps it delight¬ 
fully cool. In southern Europe today liquids are kept in 
that manner during the summer. We must also remember 
that a large number of the early wares from the Bronze 
Age down, as well as the commoner wares at all times, are 
either wholly unglazed or have unglazed portions. And 
surelv nobodv wants to contend that these vases were not 
manufactured for use. 

The objection that Athenian pottery is fragile is easily 
disposed of. Actual handling of the vases will show that 
they are anything but fragile, in fact that they are remark¬ 
ably strong. All those portions which would get special 
wear, such as handles and rims, are almost always stoutly 
made, more so than much of the china and earthenware and 
glass we use today. Occasionally, of course, w T e get a very 
thin and delicate example; and that would have to be 
handled with special care. 

Then, as regards the question of wear. Terracotta is, as 
a matter of fact, one of the most indestructible materials we 
have, and especially so when glazed. Glazed earthenware, 
consequently, even though in constant use shows little trace 
of wear. What little we should expect, a close inspection 
of Athenian vases will reveal. The black glaze, even when 
perfectly preserved on the exterior, is much worn on the 
interior of stamnoi or kraters (cf. fig. 57), where the liquid 
came in constant contact with the glaze, and the unglazed 
interiors of ampliorai and hydriai are certainly not per¬ 
fectly fresh and unused looking. It is also noteworthy that 
finely and poorly decorated vases are in the same condition 
in this respect. A comparison with the Corean pottery of 
the Korai period, 935—1392 A. D., 1 which is known to have 
been made to serve merely as tomb furniture, is helpful. 

1 Cf. e.g. Metropolitan Museum, Nos. 15.160.2-3, 19.39.20. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


The fresh and clean insides of these vases offer a very dif- 
ferent appearance from that of the discolored interiors of 
Greek amphorai and liydriai—a clear proof that the Athen¬ 
ian ware did not serve the same unutilitarian purpose as the 
Corean. 



Fig. 57. Inside of krater showing extensive w r ear 
Met. Mus. Acc. No. 07.286.74 


Lastly, regarding- the argument about riveted vases, it is 
surely natural now and then, instead of throwing away a 
broken pot, to have it put together and make the best of it 
in its mended state. We do the same thing nowadays. At 
all events, the vase could still have been used to contain dry 
materials. Such Athenian vases with ancient rivet marks 
are in any case infrequent, and do not compare in number 
with the broken vases which have not been mended. 

Such considerations should once for all explode the theory 
that Athenian vases were not actually used; so that we can 
think of them, in the way that appeals to our imagination, 
as serving in the daily life of the Athenians and as adding 
to the enjoyment of that life, both by their beauty and by 
their usefulness. 




II. REPRESENTATIONS OF ANCIENT 

POTTERS 


A N important source of knowledge for the technique 
/% of Greek vases is supplied by the representations of 
1 m ancient, potters at work and by potter’s implements 
which have survived. It may be interesting to review these 
and see what new interpretations experience at a modern 
pottery school will suggest. 


FASHIONING THE VASES 

1. Black-figured hydria in Munich. 

Furtwangler u. Reichhold, Griechische Vasenmalerei, I, Text, p. 159. 
Jalin, Beschreibung der Vasensammlung in der Pinakotliek zu 
Miinchen, No. 731. 

An Athenian pottery establishment. To the left a 
man sits on a stool and is holding with both hands an 



Fig. 58. Athenian pottery establishment 
Furtwangler u. Reichhold, Griechische Vasenmalerei, I, Text, p. 159 


amphora on his lap ; a boy (only the head and one hand are 
preserved) is standing before him, placing one hand on the 
body of the vase; the latter is painted black, that is, it has 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


65 


already been glazed. The man lias the air of inspecting it, 
while the hoy is apparently helping him hold it (since it is 
still in leather-hard condition, it requires careful hand¬ 
ling). The next group represents a man throwing a 
tall vase on a wheel; a hoy is sitting before him on a 
low stool, turning the wheel with both hands at whatever 
speed is required. The vase is so tall that the entire fore¬ 
arm of the potter is inserted; while his other hand (now 
missing) was doubtless placed on the outside of the vase, so 
that by the pressure of the two hands the pot might acquire 
the necessary form and thickness. The vase is painted 
white to show that it is as yet unglazed. A pair of calipers 
is hanging on the wall ready for use, to enable the potter to 
check the heights and widths of his products. To the right 
a 3 r outh is carefully carrying away a vase that has just been 
thrown, to dry. A similar vase is already standing on the 
other side of a column, drying in the open air or in a court. 
Both vases are painted white to indicate their unglazed con¬ 
dition. Next we see an old man walking leisurely with a 
stick. His dignified air is in strong contrast to the busy 
absorption of the workmen. He is evidently the overseer or 
proprietor of the pottery. To his right a tall youth is car¬ 
rying a heavy weight on his back, apparently a sack of char¬ 
coal. He is bringing it to the kiln, which is being stoked by 
the fireman. The kiln has a satyr head at the top to avert 
the evil eye and protect the pottery from all danger during 
the firing. 1 

2. Fragment of a Corinthian pinax in the Berlin 

Museum. 

Antike Denkmaler, I, 1886, pis. 8, 17. 

Furtwangler, Besclireibung der Vasensammlimg in Berlin, I, No. 
869. 

‘It is interesting to compare in this connection the satyr heads on 
shields, perhaps intended to frighten the enemy (cf. Gerhard, Anserle- 
sene Vasenbilder, pi. CLXXXVIII; Micali, Storia degli antichi popoli 
italiani III, p. 63, pi. 41, 1-3). 


THE CRAFT OF 


6G 



Fig. 59. Potter throwing 
Antiice Denlcmdler, I, pi. 8, No. 17 

A potter throwing a vase on a wheel, with both his hands 
placed on the outer surface; only the two hands of the 
potter and the upper part of the wheel with the vase are 
preserved. 

3. Bed-figured fragment from the Akropolis in 

Athens. 

Athenische Mittheilungen, XIV, 1889, p. 157. 



Atlienisclie Mittheilungen, 1889, p. 157 

A potter is sitting on a stool and throwing a vase on a 
wheel which is being propelled by a boy; another man sits 
behind him with a krater on his lap. 













ATHENIAN POTTERY 


67 


4. Interior of a black-figured kylix in the British 

Museum. 

British Museum, Guide to Greek and Roman Life (2d edition), 1920, 
p. 182, fig. 218. 

Walters, Catalogue of the Greek and Etruscan Vases, II, B.432. 



Fig. 61. Potter attaching handles 

British Museum, Guide to Greek and Roman Life 
(2d Edition), p. 182, fig. 218 

A potter is sitting in front of liis wheel on which a kylix is 
standing. He is apparent^ engaged in attaching the han¬ 
dles. On a shelf above are piled some more kylikes and a 
jug. The whole is very roughly painted. 


5. Corinthian black-figured pinax in the Museum of 

the Louvre. 

Gazette areheologique, VI, 1880, p. 106, 3a. 

A potter is sitting before his wheel propelling it with one 
hand. He is working on what appears to be a one-handled 
jug. He is not “throwing” or “turning” it, since it 
already has its handle attached. Perhaps he is incising 
horizontal lines on it, for which process he could easily 










08 


THE CRAFT OF 


propel his own wheel. On the wall hang two other jugs 
(with similar incised lines), and some plates (?) are stacked 
on the floor. 



Fig. 62. Potter incising lines (?) 
Gazette archeologique, 1880, p. 106 (3a) 


6'. Corinthian pinax in the Berlin Museum. 

An tike Denkmaler, I, 1886, pi. 8, 14b. 

Furtwangler, Beschreibnng der Vasensammlung in Berlin, I, No. 
885. 



Fig. 63. Potter joining sections (?) 
Antilee Denlemaler, I, pi. 8, No. 14b 
















ATHENIAN POTTERY 


69 

A man is sitting in front of a tall globular vase on a high 
foot. He is not throwing it, for there is no indication of a 
wheel. Perhaps he is joining the sections of a tall vase, 
some of which are already in place, while one part lies on 
the floor waiting to be attached. But the whole scene is so 
roughly painted that it is impossible even to know definitely 
that a potter is represented. 

7. Interior * of a red-figured kylix, Berlin Museum 

No. 2542. 

Rayet et Collignon, Histoire de la ceramique grecque, p. XVII, fig. 7. 



Rayet et Collignon, Histoire de la Ceramique grecque 

p. XVII, fig. 7 

A boy is sitting with a cup (kotyle) in one hand and an 
implement in the other, evidently engaged in a finishing 
process. Perhaps he is removing the surplus clay after the 
handles have been attached; for the vase is as yet unglazed 
and is left in the red color of the clay, in contrast to the 
black kotyle and oinochoe on the stand close by. 

8. Terracotta statuette of a potter in the British 

Museum. 

British Museum, Guide to Greek and Roman Life (2d edition), 
1920, p. 181, fig. 216. 
















70 


THE CRAFT OF 


A man is represented in a crouching attitude apparently 
engaged in building a pot. 



Fig. 65. Potter building a vase 

British Museum, Guide to Greelc and Homan Life 
(2d Edition), p. 181, fig. 216 

DECORATING THE VASES 

1. Bed-figured hydria in Buvo. 

Annali delPInstituto, 1876, pi. DE. 

Athena and two Victories crowning potters at work. To 
the left is a potter sitting on a low stool and engaged in 
decorating a volute krater; he is holding a brush in his 
closed fist in Japanese fashion, and is looking in surprise at 
the Nike who is crowning him; by his side are two paint 
pots. In front of him another workman, comfortably 
seated on a chair, is busily painting a kantharos which he 
holds tipped on his lap. He also holds the brush in his fist 
downwards. Another kantharos and an oinochoe stand on 
the floor, awaiting their turn to be decorated; on a low stand 
close by are two paint pots, one with its lid tipped against 
the side. The artist is completely absorbed in his work and 





ATHENIAN POTTERY 


71 


has not yet discovered Athena, the patron of arts and 
crafts, approaching him with a wreath. Behind Athena a 
third workman is seated on a low stool, decorating a bell 
krater with a palmette design. He tips np the vase with one 
hand, holds the brush firmly in his fist, and has his paint pot 
within easy reach on the floor. A Nike is about to crown 
him with a wreath; but he, too, is entirely engrossed in his 



work and quite unconscious of the honor to be conferred on 
him. Completing the scene on the right is a girl on a low 
platform painting the handle of a large volute krater. 
The figure is of special interest today, for it shows that 
there were women potters then as now. Above her on the 
wall are suspended a kantharos and a lekythos. The whole 
scene is of great importance as the most representative we 
possess of ancient vase painters at work. 

2. Red-figured hylix in the Museum of Fine Arts, 

Boston. 

Hartwig, Jalirbuch des Instituts, XIY, 1899, pi. 4. 

A youth is sitting on a stool, holding a kylix by the foot 
and decorating the outside of it with what looks like a brush 

















72 


THE CRAFT OF 


with long bristles, though it has also been identified as a 
feather (by Hartwig). In the hand that grasps the kylix 
is a pointed instrument which has been identified by Hart- 
wig as the implement with which the preliminary sketch was 



Fig - . 67. Youth decorating kylix 
Hartwig, Jahrbuch des Instituts, 1899, pi. IV 


drawn. The attitude of the painter suggests the quiet 
absorption required by a delicate task. Behind the youth 
is his knotted staff, and on the wall hang his oil flask and 
strigil. 


3 • Fragment of a red-figured kylix , found on the 

Akropolis, A thens . 

Hartwig, Jalirbuch des Instituts, XIV, 1899, p. 154, tig. 2. 

A potter glazing the inside of a kylix as it rotates on the 
wheel. A woman appears to be crowning him with a 
wreath. 









ATHENIAN POTTERY 


73 



f»g. a. 


Fig. 68. Potter glazing kylix 
Hartwig, Jahrbuch des Instituts, 1899, pi. 154, fig. 2 

4. Corinthian pinax in the Berlin Museum. 

Antike Denkmaler, I, pi. 8, No. 18. 

Furtwangler, Beschreibung der Yasensammlung zu Berlin, I, No. 

868 . 



Fig. 69. Potter painting bands on a krater 
Antike Denkmaler, I, pi. 8, No. 18 


A potter is sitting on a stool before bis wheel, apparently 
in the act of painting broad black bands on a column krater 
while the vase is revolving. 


















74 


THE CRAFT OF 

5. Red-figured bell-krater in the Ashmolean 

Museum, Oxford. 

Beazley, Journal of Hellenic Studies, XXVIII, 1908, pi. XXXII, A. 

To the left a youth is sitting on a stool painting the out¬ 
side of a bell krater. He is steadying the vase with his left 
arm placed inside the krater, while he lets the rim rest on 
his lap. By his side is a low stand with a skyplios evidently 



Fig. 70. Three youths, one painting a krater 
Beazley, Journal of Hellenic Studies, XXVIII (1908), pi. XXXII, A 

containing the paint. A second workman is carrying off 
another krater to the right. He may be going to fetch some 
water or wine in it, for it is evidently a completed, fired 
vase, otherwise he would not be carrying it by the handles. 
A third workman is moving in the same direction holding 
up a skyplios, perhaps to get more paint or some water or 
wine to drink. A krater standing on the ground completes 
the scene. On the wall hang some implements of the pot¬ 
ter’s trade, identified by Beazley from the original as (1) 
a kylix for drinking, (2) a mortar for grinding the ingre¬ 
dients of the glaze, (3) a brush case, (4) a bowl to contain 
liquid glaze, (5) a strainer for sieving the glaze. 



ATHENIAN POTTERY 


75 


6. Boeotian black-figured skyphos in the Polytech- 

nionin Athens. 

Found in Lokris. 

Bliimner, Athenisclie Mittheilungen, NIV, 1889, p. 151. 

The master of the pottery is sitting with a kylix in one 
hand, while with the other he is trying to beat a slave who 
is running off with three skyphoi. Three other skyphoi are 
on the ground, while a kantliaros and a skyphos are near by 
on a shelf. Another workman is inspecting a skyphos he 



has just glazed; a paint pot and brush are on a low stand 
bv his side. He takes no notice of a scene which is taking 
place close by, a man beating a slave suspended from 
the ceiling. The workmanship is very crude, and if it is a 
product of the pottery establishment which it depicts, it is 
a fair sample of the work we might expect from a place run 
on such methods! 

FIRING THE VASES 

1-10 Votive tablets or pinakes found at Penteskuphia 
near Corinth, dating 650-550 B.C. {figs. 72-80). 
Nos. 73-78, 80 are in the Berlin Museum; Nos. 
72, 79 in the Museum of the Louvre. 

Antike Denkmaler, I, 1886, pi. 8, Nos. 1, 4, 12, 15, 19b, 21, 22, 26 
(Furtwangler, Besclireibung der Vasensammlung zu Berlin, I, Nos. 
608, 802, 616, 893, 909, 827, 611). Gazette archeologique, VI, 1880, p. 
105 (1), p. 106 (1). 





76 


THE CRAFT OF 



Figs. 72-73. Potters stoking the fire 
Ant He Denkmaler, I, pi. 8, 26. Gazette archeologique, VI, p. 105. 


Representations of potter’s kilns. 

The kilns are domed, and have three openings, one at the 
bottom for the fuel, one on the side for the insertion of the 
ware and to act as a spy-hole, and one at the top to let out 
the smoke and for the regulation of the draught. On figs. 
72-79, the firemen are busy stoking the fire, and climbing to 
the top of the kiln to manipulate the draught-hole with a 
hooked implement; for the flames are seen emerging at the 
top, which means that heat is being wasted. Fig. 80 shows 
the inside of a kiln, in horizontal section, with two openings 
for the fire, each opening having two channels into the kiln. 
The vases should of course stand upright, but the painter 
naturally found it difficult to depict them in the right per¬ 
spective looking at them from the top. 

Furtwangler (Beschreibung der Yasensammlung zu Ber¬ 
lin, I, p. 70, note) was inclined to think that these ovens 
are not pottery kilns, but furnaces for metal smelting. 
His objections, however, do not hold. The ovens are not 
too large for pottery, and the climbing to the top for the 
regulation of the draught is a well-known proceeding. 
Moreover, the scene (fig. 80) showing the stacked vases, the 
little pots painted on figs. 75 and 78 as if to indicate the 
purpose of the ovens, and the representations of potters at 











ATHENIAN POTTERY 


77 




Fig. 74. 


Fig. 75. 




Fig. 76. 


Fig. 77. 



Fig. 78. Fig. 79. 

Fig^. 74-79. Potters regulating draught 

Antike Denkmdler, I, pi. 8, Nos. 4, 12, 1, 21, 22; Gazette arclicolo- 
(jique, VI, p. 106. 






























78 


THE CRAFT OF 


work on other tablets, make the interpretation as pottery 
kilns the most likely. These pictures are of special import¬ 
ance since no actual Greek kilns have yet been discovered, 
though several Etruscan and numerous Roman ones have 
come to light (cf. Montelius, Civilisation primitive, pi. 107, 
11, and Blumner, op. cit., II, pp. 23 ff.). 



Fig. 80. Vases stacked in potter’s kiln 
Antiice Derikmaler, I, pi. VIII, No. 19b 


MISCELLANEOUS SCENES 

1. Engraved gem , present whereabouts not known. 

Millin, Peintures de vases antiques, II, title vignette. 

A youth is sitting in front of an oven removing with two 
sticks a two-handled vase which has been placed there for 
drying. He is using the sticks instead of his fingers because 
the pot is too hot to touch; not in order to avoid injuring 
the fresh glaze on the vase, as has been suggested (cf. 
Blumner, Technologie u. Terminologie II, 1895, p. 52), for 
the sticks would mark the glaze as much as the fingers 






ATHENIAN POTTERY 


79 


would. Modern potters often use sticks for removing hot 
ware from the kilns (cf. p. 36). 



Fig. 81. Youth removing vase from oven with two sticks 
Millin, Peintures de vases, II, title vignette 

2. Engraved gem, present whereabouts not known. 

Millin, Peintures de vases antiques, I, vignette. 

Bliimner, Technologie u. Terminologie, II, p. 52, fig. 13. 

A youth is sitting on a low tripod in front of an oven. 
He holds a jug by the handle, and seems to be working on it 



Fig. 82. Youth working on vases (?) 

Millin, Peintures de vases, I, vignette 

» 

with an instrument. It is not clear what he is doing; the 
way he holds the vase by one handle suggests that the vase 
lias been fired. On the oven are a kylix and an oinochoe, 
perhaps placed there for drying. 















































80 


THE CRAFT OF 


3. Archaic Greek stele in the Akropolis Museum, 

Athens. 

Leeliat, La Sculpture attique avant Plieidias, p. 367, fig. 29. 

Dickins, Catalogue of the Akropolis Museum at Athens, p. 272, No. 
1332. 



Fig. 83. Master potter (?) 

Leeliat, La Sculpture attique avant Plieidias, p. 367, fig. 29 

A bearded man is represented seated, holding in his left 
hand two kylikes, one by the handle, the other by the foot. 
A large part of the stele is missing. The figure has been 
interpreted, with some probability, as a “master potter.” 

4. Greek stele in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 

New York. 

Richter, Handbook of the Classical Collection, p. 209, fig. 125. 








ATHENIAN POTTERY 


81 


A woman is represented seated with a pyxis on her lap 
and a lekythos in one hand. On the analogy of the 
Akropolis stele, it is possible that here too we have a votive 
offering of a potter. 



Fig. 84. Woman potter (?) 
Met. Mils. Acc. No. 08.258.42 


5. Interior of a kylix in the Johns Hopkins Univer¬ 
sity, Baltimore. 

Hartwig, Die griecliisclien Meisterschalen, pi. XVII, I, and title 
vignette. 

Hoppin, A Handbook of Attic Red-Figured Vases, II, p. 355. 

A client in a potter’s shop is examining the stacked ware, 
and holds his purse ready to pay for what he will select. 





82 


THE CRAFT OF 



Fig. 85. Client in potter’s shop 
Hartwig, Die griechischen Meisterschalen, title vignette 


6. Fragment of a Corinthian pinax in the Berlin 

Museum. 

Antike Denkmaler, I, 1886, pi. 8, 8a. 

Furtwangler, Beschreibung der Vasensammlung zu Berlin, I, No. 
831b. 



Fig. 86. Ship with cargo of pottery 
Antike Denkmaler, I, pi. 8, 3a 














ATHENIAN POTTERY 


83 


Sailing-ship with a sheet wound round the mast, and a 
row of jugs painted in the field above. The latter appar¬ 
ently indicate the cargo of the ship, and the tablet is proba¬ 
bly an offering of a merchant to the sea-god Poseidon for the 
safe conduct of his precious consignment to foreign lands. 

This is the only picture we have of the transport of Greek 
vases, which we know played so significant a part in Greek 
ceramic industry. Even in the seventh century B.C., 
when most important localities produced their own wares, 
such shipments must have been frequent, since, for instance, 
large numbers of Corinthian vases have been unearthed in 
Etruria, and Laconian vases are found scattered far and 
wide. In the sixth and fifth centuries B.C., when Athens 
supplied a large part of the Greek world with her pottery, 
the trade must have been an exceedingly active one; so that 
we must imagine ship after ship laden with pottery sailing 
from the Piraeus for distant lands. 


REPRESENTATIONS WRONGLY INTERPRETED AS 

POTTERY SCENES 

From time to time various representations have been inter¬ 
preted as pottery scenes which probably have no such 
significance. The following are the two most important. 


1. Interior of a hulix in the Metropolitan Museum 

of Art. 

A satyr is stoking the fire of an oven on which is a skyphos. 
This scene is figured in many of the books on vases (cf. e.g. 
Walters, History of Ancient Pottery, I, p. 216, fig. 68) and 
interpreted as a satyr firing pottery; probably he is simply 
cooking his dinner. 


84 


THE CRAFT OF 


2. Interior of a kylix. 

Gerhard, Auserlesene Vasenbilder, pis. CLXXX-CLXXXI. 

Youth holding the rim of a large krater with both hands. 
He is sometimes interpreted as a potter working on a vase; 
but there is no clear connection with pottery work. 


POTTER’S IMPLEMENTS 

Unfortunately very few potter’s implements of classical 
Greek times have survived. We have no Athenian wheel or 
kiln or turning tools. And even from other periods the list 
of such utensils is a slim one. But what has survived here 



Fig. 87. Wheel-head 

British Museum, Guide to Greek and Homan Life 
(2d Edition), p. 181, tig. 217 

and there from other periods is in line with the general 
trend of the evidence—that the techniques in ancient times 
were very similar to what they are today. Perhaps the 
most interesting pieces are the terracotta disks found at 
Gournia, Arezzo, and elsewhere, 1 which are wheel-heads 2 on 

1 Cf. e.g. Zahn, Berichte der sachsischen Gesellschaft, 1854, p. 40, note 
46; British Museum, Guide to Greek and Roman Life (2d edition), 
1920, p. 181, fig. 217 (No. 1905.6-13.1); Dechelette, Les vases ceram- 
iques ornes de la Gaule romaine, II, 1904, p. 338. 

-Nowadays plaster or wood is the usual material for such wheel- 
heads. 



ATHENIAN POTTERY 


85 


which the pottery was thrown and turned. On the under 
side of some of these is a hole for insertion in the pivot 


(fig. 87). 


► 



Fig. 88. Tools found at Arezzo 

Daremberg et Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquites grecques 
et romaines, p. 1122, fig. 3036 



Fig. 89. Stilt 

The potter’s tools found at Arezzo (fig. 88) 1 are not unlike 
our modern modeling tools and were doubtless used for 
various finishing processes. 

1 Cf. e.g. Fabroni, Storia degli antichi vasi fittili aretini, 1841, pi. 
Ill, 9, 10; V, 7, 8, 9; p. 64, and Daremberg et Saglio, Dictionnaire, 
under figlinum, p. 1122, fig. 3036. 














86 


THE CRAFT OF 


Iii the British Museum (Nos. 74.7-10,302) are terracotta 
stilts used for supporting* vases in the kilns, very like the 
stilts used by potters today. It is unlikely that they were 
used by the Athenian potters, since the Greek black glaze is 
so thin it would not be apt to run, but for the Roman ware 
with metallic glaze they were essential, and the marks they 
left are visible on the feet of the vases. 1 On one of the 
British Museum stilts (fig. 89) are remains of a greenish 
glaze from such a vase. No moulds for the Athenian plastic 
ware have to my knowledge been found. But moulds for 
the later wares, such as the Arretine, are of course plenti¬ 
ful. They are invariably made of burnt clay. The kilns 
which have survived all date from Roman times (cf. Bliim- 
ner, op. cit., II, pp. 23 ff.). 

1 Cf. e.g. Nos. 15.163.1, 17.120.250 in the Metropolitan Museum. 


III. REFERENCES TO THE POTTERY 
CRAFT IN ANCIENT LITERATURE 


T HE information derived from ancient literature on 
the subject of the technique of Athenian vases is 
decidedly meagre; and naturally so. The only 
people who could have given us valuable data regarding 
technical questions were the potters themselves, and they 
were not writers. Outsiders knew as little of the technique 
of the craft as they do today. So we obtain from them only 
general remarks; and these on the whole bear out the points 
we have already made. Occasionally, however, they throw 
fresh light on a question, or give us information on some 
point on which the vases themselves cannot speak, such as 
the status of the ancient potters, the value placed on the 
vases, etc. It is important, therefore, to examine the chief 
references in Greek and Roman literature on this subject. 


PREPARATION OF THE CLAY 

Geoponica, n, 49. 


3. It is most necessary for 
every reason to have potters (on 
a farm), since we are convinced 
that it is possible to find potter ’s 
clay on any land; for either on 
the surface, or deep down, or in 
out-of-the-way places on the land 
you will find earth suitable for 
making pottery. 


3. ’AvayxatOTaxov §e xal xepaptea*; 
eye tv xavTwv e'vsxa, xexetaptlvov 
ev xaafl xfj yfj eaxtv eupecv xepapicxTjv 
yf)v, 1) yap extxokdatov, 1) ev (3d0st, Tj 
ev dtxoxexpu(A[xlvot<; pis peat xal xoxotq 
to0 yospioo exiTT]Be(av yip xpb? xaxa- 
axeurjv xepapuov e&prjaei<;. 


The abundance of clay on Greek soil must have helped the 
manufacture of the many local varieties before Athens 
obtained the monopoly in the sixth century B.C. 


88 


THE CRAFT OF 

Geoponica, vi, 3. 


On making pithoi 

1. Not all earth is suitable 
for pottery, but with regard to 
potter’s clay, some prefer the yel¬ 
lowish red, some the wdiite, and 
others mix the two. 2. Some in 
judging of a well-made pithos are 
satisfied if, when struck, it gives 
forth a sharp, clear sound. 
3. That, however, is not enough, 
but the person in charge ought to 
be present while the work is going 
on, and see to it that the clay has 
been well worked, and not let it 
be put on the wheel before the 
clay shows what sort of pot it 
will make when fired. 


xepl xaxaaxfiuijs xt'Owv 

1. Ft} ou xaaa sxittjBscoc; xp hq xs- 
pajxet'av, aXXa zfjq xepapdxtBo? yr)q 
ol [xlv xpoxptvouat xr)v xuppdv xB Xpw- 
[xa, ol Be xr)v Xeuxtjv, ol Bs <x\x<pozep<xq 
aupqxtyvuouac. 2. Ttveq [X£V oov ap- 
xouvxac ev xfj Boxt[xaa(<jc too xaXdj? 
x£X£patx£U[X£vou xt'Oou, zip xpouaOivxa 
auxBv axoBoGvat rj%6v xcva o£uv xal 
xopov. 3. oux s'axc Bs xoOxo auxapxs?, 
aXXa xpfj xov xaxaax£ui^ovxa xapEt- 
vac xj) XEpa[X£ta, xal oizinq 6 xtqXB? xa- 
XCiq £?pyaa[X£vo? ec'y) xpovorjaac, xal 
[xt) xplv saaac sxl xBv xpo/Bv ava6t6a- 
aat, xplv xBv xr)XBv BcaBEt^ac oxocoq 
eozou o xtQoq 6 xxt)0£1(;. 


Good potters were evidently well aware, then as now, of 
the importance of the right composition and consistency of 
their clay. It is also interesting to note tliat potters in 
modern Athens still regularly use a mixture of red and 
white clay (cf. p. 40, note 2). 


' i 

SophoMes, Fragments, 438. 


First begin to work the clay 
with your hands. 


Ival xpoixov ap^ou xt)XBv 6pydij£tv 

y.epcriv. 


i 


\ 

IIesychilis, Lexicon, s. v. opydo-ai 


dpydaai: to make ready; or as 
is said, to knead the clay, which 
is to prepare it, to mix it, to wet 
it, to w T ork it into a plastic mass. 


opyaaat' exoqxdaac, xal xBv xy)XBv 
Bpydaac <paatv, o iaxiv £xoi'[xaaat, <p u- 
pxaat, (ipi^ac, avdBEuaac. 


’Op-yaacu in other words was the Greek expression for 
wedging the clay and getting it ready for throwing. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


89 


FASHIONING THE VASES 
(1) WHEELWORK 


Diodorus Siculus, iv, 76. 


Talos, the son of Daedalus’ 
sister, was brought up as a child 
by Daedalus, and being cleverer 
than his teacher, he invented the 
potter’s wheel. 


Tt]<; dBeXcprjq xrjq AacBdXou ysvd- 
txsvoq ulbq TaXcoc; exacbsuexo xapd 
AaiSdXo> xacq civ xr)v T)Xix:av, eu^ud- 
axepoq 8’ wv xou ScSaaxaXou xbv xspa- 
pieuxtxbv xpo^bv sups. 


Strabo, Geography, vn, p. 303. 


Ephoros says that Anacharsis’ 
inventions were the bellows, the 
double-fluked anchor, and the pot¬ 
ter ’s wheel. I repeat this state¬ 
ment, although I am well aware 
that this writer is not very accu¬ 
rate, and especially in the account 
of Anacharsis, for how could the 
potter’s wheel be an invention of 
his, while Homer 1 who was of an 
earlier time knew of it? 


'O "Eqjopoq. eupr);i.axd xe 

auxoO Xeyet xa xs l^oxupa xal xr y v api- 
cp(6oXov ayxupav xal xbv xepapuxbv 
xpo^bv. xauxa Se Xeyco aa^d>c; pisv e(- 
Bd><; oxt xal ouxoq auxbq ou xdXr^Gi- 
axaxa Xiyet xepl xavxov, xal Stj xal 
xb xou ’Ava/apsiSo?. %G)q yap 6 xpo- 
%bq euprjpua auxou, ov oISsv "Opnrjpos 
xpeuSuxepoq div; 


Pliny, Natural History, vii, 198. 


Coroebus the Athenian invented 
earthen pots, and among the in¬ 
ventors, the Scythian Anachar¬ 
sis, or as others say, Hyperbius 
the Corinthian, discovered the 
potter’s wheel. 


....figlinas (invenit) Coroebus 
Atheniensis, in iis orbem Anachar¬ 
sis Scythes, ut alii, Hyperbius 
Corinthus. 


Critias, Elegies, i, 12-14 (Bergk). 


The child of the wheel and the 
earth and the kiln, the famous 
pottery, useful house servant, that 
city invented which set up the 
glorious trophy at Marathon. 


Tov 8s xpoyou yah]? xs xapuvou 
x’ exyovov eupsv, 

xXscvoxaxov xepapiov, xprjcnpiov otxo- 

VOfAOV, 

■f) ’xb xaXbv MapaGtovt xaxaaxTjaaaa 
xpoxaiov. 


It is natural that the ancients should have attributed the 
great invention of the potter’s wheel to various individuals 
or cities, but they themselves realized the anomaly of 

1 Cf. e.g. Iliad, XVIII, 599-601, quoted below. 



90 


THE CRAFT OF 


ascribing it to a comparatively recent period, when it was 
known to Homer (see below). Actual remains of wheel- 
thrown vases show that the wheel was known in Crete and 
Greece in the Early Minoan and Early Helladic III periods 
(before 2200 B.C.) and in Egypt in the third and fourth 
dynasties 1 (about 3000 B.C.). 


Homer, Iliad,: 

And now they would run round 
with deft feet exceeding lightly, 
as when a potter sitting by his 
wheel that fitteth between his 
hands maketli trial of it whether 
it run. (Lang, Leaf and Myers.) 

Plutarch, De genio 

One ought not to be surprised 
at seeing the movement of large 
merchant-vessels controlled by 
small helms, nor the whirling of 
the potter’s wheel moving regu¬ 
larly at the mere touch of the tips 
of his fingers. 


tvm, 599-601. 

O: S’ oxe |X8v Ope^aaxov excaxapie- 
vouai xoBeaatv, 

peta p.aX’, oiq oxe xt? xpo yhv ap- 
pievov ev xaXapifiacv. 

e£,6pt.evo<; xepap.eu<; xecpfjaexac, aY 
xe Oey,atv. 

Socratis, p. 588f. 

Ou Set Be Oaupu&^etv opwvxa^ xouxo 
piv uxB puxpoiq oYa£c pteyaXtov xepta- 
y(oya? 6XxaBtov, xouxo Be xpo/oiv xe- 
papLetxoiv Bt'vrjatv axpa? xapa^auaec 
Xetpoq b[iixkC)q xepc^spopJvtov. 


Persius, Satires, in, 23-24. 

[Advice to an idle young man of udum et molle lutum es, nunc 
good position.] nunc properandus et acri 

You are wet, soft clay; at this fingendus sine fine rota, 
very moment you should be hast¬ 
ening to shape yourself on the 
swift wheel. 


Hippokrates, n e P l aI, Littre, vi, p. 494, §22. 


Potters turn the wheel which 
moves neither backward nor for¬ 
ward and at the. same time imi¬ 
tates the rotation of the universe, 
and on this same wheel as it 
whirls they make things of all 
kinds, no one of them like 
another, from the same materials 
with the same tools. 


KepapJeq xpo^Bv Bcveouac, xal ouxe 
6xta(o ouxe xptoao) xpo^wplec xal api- 
tpoxepwae apia xou oXou pup.7)XY)<; xt;<; 
xeptcpopf]q' ev Be xw auxii> epya^ovxac 
xeptpepopievtp xavxoBaxa, ouBev opiocov 
xo exepov xto exipto ex xwv aGxwv xoi- 
atv auxoiacv opyavouatv. 


1 Cf. Reisner, Naga-ed-Der, I, p. 133. 


ATHENIAN POTTEKY 


91 


The fascination of a pot shaped on a rapidly turning 
wheel appealed to the ancients as it does to us; and the 
parallelism between a pot in the making and man shaped by 
life is too obvious to have escaped them. Hippokrates’ 
remark that of the vases produced on the wheel no two are 
alike is characteristic of the Greek love of variety. 


Ecclesicisticus, 38, 32. 


So does the potter sitting at his 
work and turning his wheel round 
with his feet, who is always pains¬ 
taking with his task, and all his 
work is done by number. He 
moulds the clay with his arm, and 
his feet. [Literal translation of 
the Greek text written by a 
Hebrew and evidently colored by 
his own idiom.] 


Ouxio '/.epochsuc; xa0TQ[jisvo<; sv epyw 
auxou, xal auaxpepwv sv xoalv auaou 
xpo/ov, og sv pispfyivfi xsixac Bid xav- 
xo<; ex! xo epyov auxou, xa! svapi'Opuoq 
xaaa i] i pyaai'a auxou. 

’Ev @paxtou auxou xuxwasi xrXov. 
xal xpb xoBwv xapi^sc iay _uv auxou. 


This is the only place in ancient literature in which the 
action of the foot in wheelwork is referred to. In the 
second century B.C., therefore, we might assume the knowl¬ 
edge of the kick-wheel, though it may well have been in use 
long before then, since it is a simple and obvious device. 
Where labor, however, was cheap and plentiful, as in fifth- 
century Athens, a slave boy turning the wheel for the potter, 
whose whole strength and attention could then be expended 
on his work, would be preferable; and this is the manner 
in which wheelwork is depicted in Athenian vase paintings 
(cf. pp. 64 If.). 


Athenaeus, xi, p. 480 c. 

These kylikes are clay drinking- Tauxa B’ sax! xepapcea xoxrjpia xal 
cups, and are so called from being Xeyexai dxb xou xuXtsaOac xtp xpo^ip. 
turned on the wheel. 


92 


THE CRAFT OF 


The kylix is, of course, the wheel-made vase par excel¬ 
lence. Nothing so light and graceful or with such a fine 
flow of line could be produced by handwork. 


Plato, Gorgias, p. 514 e. 


Is not this, as they say, to learn 
the potter’s craft by undertaking 
a pithos,.... and does not this 
seem to you a foolish thing to do? 


Tb Xey6[xevov xouxo ev xti> xt'Ow 
ttjv xepajxefav ext^etpelv fj.av0avetv.... 

.OUX avOTJTOV CTOt 80- 

xet av elvac ouxio xpaxxecv; 


Plato, Laches, p. 187 b. 


For if this is your first attempt 
at education, you must take care 
lest you try the experiment, not 
on a Carian slave, but on your 
sons or the children of your 
friends, and let the proverb fit 
you which says that the potter’s 
art is in the pithos. 


Ec yap vuv xpwxov ap^eaOe xa:- 
Beuecv, axoxelv xPU [**) ou* vtjj Ka- 
pi upuv 6 xtvBuvo? xivBuveurjxat, aXX’ 
ev xot<; uiat xe xal ev xoi<; xajv (jIXtov 
xatat, xal axexvois xb Xeyopievov xaxa 
xrjv xapotpu'av Opuv aufxSacvif) ev xt'Sco 
•rj xepapieta ycyvopievr). 


Scholiast on Plato, Laches, p. 187 b. 


The proverb, 11 in the pithos is 
the potter’s art, ’ ’ about those 
who skip the first lessons and take 
hold of the greatest tasks which 
are properly the last. 


riapotpu'a, ev xt'0(p xy)v xepapielav, 
exl xd>v xaq xpwxas [xa0Y]aet<; uxepSat- 
vovxtov, axxo[xev(ov Be xwv piec^6v(i)v xal 
y^Byj xtijv xeXetoxepwv. 


Corpus Paroemiographorum Graecorum. Zenobius, 

hi, 65. 


“I learn the potter’s craft on 
the pithos ”; a proverb upon 
those who skip the first lessons, 
and immediately attempt greater 
things; as if anyone who was 
learning to be a potter, before 
learning to mould plates or any 
other small thing, should under¬ 
take a pithos. 


’Ev xcOtp xtjv xepapietav piav0ava>: 
riapotpu'a exl xwv xa? xpwxaq pt.a0 tj- 
aei? 6xep6atvovxo)v, axxo^xevtov Be eu- 
0e(Os xov piet^6v(i)v. et xtq [xav- 

0dvo)v xepapt-euecv, xplv [xa0elv xlvaxa? 
r; a'XXo xt xov puxpwv xXaxxeiv, x(0qj 
eyxepolif). 



ATHENIAN POTTERY 


93 


The fact that there was a Greek proverb on the folly of 
attempting large vases before a thorough knowledge of the 
craft has been acquired, shows how common was the realiza¬ 
tion of the difficulty of the task. 


Plutarch, Quaestiones conviviales , n, p. 636 c. 

Polykleitos the modeler said IloXuxXeixoi; b xXaaxiqq ecxe y.aXe- 
that the work is most difficult xioxocxov stvocc xoupyov, oxocv sv ovu/^t 
when the clay stands the test of 6 xrjXbq yevrjxai. 
the nail (?). 

If we interpret this passage as referring to a potter, and 
orav iv oimyt y evrjTcu as meaning when the stage lias been 
reached that the clay is hard enough to be scratched with 
the nail, this may possibly be an allusion to turning; which 
may well be called the most difficult process of pottery 
making. But this interpretation is very uncertain. The 
passage is usually taken as referring to the sculptor's last 
touches on a clay model for a bronze statue. 


(2) BUILDING 

Geoponica, vi, 3 (4). 


4. Potters do not use the wheel 
for all pithoi, but only for the 
small ones. The larger ones they 
build up day by day, placing them 
on the ground in a warm room, 
and thus make them large. 


4. Ou xavxas Be xou<; xtBouq exl 
xbv xpo^bv dva6c6a^ouaiv ot xepa[xet<;, 
dcXXa xouq puxpouq. xou? (jivxot piec- 
l,ou? yapial xet[xevou<; barjpi.epac ev 
0ep[X(I) otxrjpiaxi IxotxoSopioGai, xal 
pLeydXouq xoioGctv. 


Pollux, Onomasticon, vii, 164. 


164. That around which those 
who make pithoi put the clay and 
shape it—this wooden core is 
called KavafioS' 


164. Ilept Be o ol xouq xt'0ou<; xXdx- 
xovxeq xov xrjXbv xeptxi04vxes xXdx- 
xouai, xoGxo xb £uXT)q>tov xdva6o<; x a - 
Xetxat. 


94 


THE CRAFT OF 


Such hand-built ware does not, of course, include the 
large painted kraters and amphorai of Athenian make; for 
these have all the ear-marks of wheel-thrown pottery. 
Wooden cores are still used today in the making of cement 
forms. Since the clay cement shrinks upon drying and the 
wood does not, care must be taken to prevent the former 
from cracking. The wooden core is therefore made in 
collapsible form. A wedge is made in the center and a core 
built around it. When the work is finished the wedge can 
be drawn out and the sides of the core will fall in. 1 


FIRING THE VASES 

Geoponica, vi, 3 (5). 


5. The firing is no small part 
of the potter’s craft. Not too 
little or too much fire should be 
built under the pots, but just 
enough. 


Ou puxpbv 3s ty}? xepa^faq sail 
[xipoc; T) OXTY}CTCq’ Sst Ss [XY)T£ s'XoCTTOV, 

[XT)TS xXsOV, aXXa [XS[X£TpTf)pLSVO)i; xb 

xup uxoSaXXetv. 


Vita Herodotea A/1 = Epigrammata Homerica, 14. 

(Text of T. W. Allen, in Oxford University Classical Texts.) 


Some potters, seeing him 
[Homer] setting out the next 
morning while they were building 
a fire in a kiln of fine pottery, 
called him to them, knowing that 
he was a poet, and they bade him 
sing, promising to give him some 
of the pottery and whatever else 
they had, and Homer sang to them 
the following poem, which is 
called the “Kiln”:— 

11 If you will give me a reward 
I will sing to you, O potters. 
Come hither, Athena, and stretch 
thy hand over the kiln, and may 
the kotyloi blacken well and all 


Tj} Ss stcjauptov Sexoxopsuofxsvov 
(S6vxs<; xspa[xssq xtvsq xapuvov eyxod- 
ovxs<; xspajAou XsxxoG, xpoosxaXsaav- 
to auxov, xsxuopLsvot ox: ao^b? sYtq* xal 
sxsXsuov acpiv astaac, <p&[ASvot Stoascv 
auxto to 0 xspapiou xal o xc av aXXo 
sxwatv. 6 Ss "Op^poc; asc'Ssi auxoi? 
xcz sxsa Tabs a xaXssxat Ivapuvoc;' 

Et plsv Swasxs [xiaObv ast'aco, to xspa- 

[Xf)S?' 

Ssup’ ay’ ’AOtqvouy) xal uxslps^s 
Xetpa xapuvou, 

su Ss pusXavBslsv xbxuXot xal x&vxa 
[xaXsupa, 


1 This information I owe to Mr. Binns. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


95 


the.and may they be well 

baked, and receive the price due 
to their value, many being sold 
in the market, and many in the 
streets. May they gain much... . 
But if you turn to shamelessness, 
and choose falsehood, then I sum¬ 
mon the destroyers to fall upon 
the kiln, Crasher and Smasher and 
Unquenchable and Shatterer and 
Fierce Conquerer, who would 
bring many evils upon this craft 

.and may the whole kiln be 

thrown into confusion, while the 
potters lament loudly. As a 
horse’s jaw eats greedily, so may 
the kiln devour all the pottery 
within it, making it brittle. 
Come hither, Circe, daughter of 
the sun, skilled in drugs; bring 
malignant poisons, afflict the men 
and ruin their work. Let Cheiron 
bring hither many Centaurs, both 
those who escaped the hands of 
Herakles, and those who perished. 
Let them harshly smite the w r ork 
and smite the kiln, and may the 
men themselves see these grievous 
deeds with lamentations. But I 
shall be happy when I see their 
unlucky craft. And the man who 
peeps over, may his whole face 
burn on account of this, so that 
all may know how to do what is 
right. ’ ’ 


cppuxOfjvat xe xocXco? xocl xcpiri? covov 
dcpecrOocc, 

xoXXd [lev e?v dcyopfj xtoXeupievoc, 
xoXXa S’ ayuca?, 

xoXXa 8s xepSrjvoct, Tjpuv 8e 8r) to? 
<Kpc vofjaac. 

r)v S’ ex’ dcvoccSehqv xpe?0evxe? tJieuSe’ 
ap-quOe 

auyxocXeoo 8’ y^xeixoc xocpuvtp 8r]Xr)- 
xr^pa?, 

26vxpc6’ opuo? Spidpocyov xe xocl 
”Aa6exov r)8e y’ ”A6ocxxov, 

'Qpi.68ocpi.6v 0’ o? xflSe xexvfi xocxoc 
xoXXa xopt^oc. 

xei0e xupocc'0ouaocv xocl Stoptocxoc, auv 
Se xdpiivo? 

xoccjoc xuxY)Oe(Y) xepocpiecov ptlyoc 
xtoxuadvxtov. 

to? yvdOo? txxetTQ (6p6xec, (ipuxoc 8e 
xdpuvo? 

xdvx’ evxoaO’ ocuxy;? xepapcrjcoc Xe- 
xxoc xocouaa. 

Seupo xod rjeXcou Ouyocxep xoXu- 
ipdppiocxe Kcpxr). 

ocypcoc tpdppLocxa @aXXe, xdxou S’ 
ocuxoii? xe xocl epyoc. 

Seupo Se xocl Xecpcov dcyexto xoXeoc? 
Kevxocupou?, 

oc 0’ 'HpocxXefou? xstpa? ?6yov, oY 
x’ dcxoXovxo’ 

xuxxocev xdcSe epyoc xocxto?, xuxxoc 
Se xapuvov, 

ocuxol S’ o!puo?ovxe? Sptoocxo epyoc 
xov7]pdc. 

yr)0if]aco S’6potov octoxtov xaxoSafpiova 

xexvrjv. 

o? Se x* uxepxu^fl, xepl xouxou 
xocv xb xpoatoxov 

<pkeyj)eir), to? xavxe? excaxaivx’ 
acacpioc pe^ecv. 


This is a good picture of the havoc that may happen in 
a kiln. 




9G 


THE CRAFT OF 


Hippokrates, Epidemia, iv, 20; Littre, v, p. 160. 


The man who fell down from 
the potter’s oven, since a cup¬ 
ping-glass was not applied imme¬ 
diately, suffered from an internal 
inflammation and on the twentieth 
day grew worse. 


'O axb xou xspapisou ixvou y.axa- 
xsacov, o) 06 xpoa&Xr)0v] auxfxa at xutj, 
sxauO-r] saw, xat slxoaxp sxaXtyxoxir]- 
asv. 


This reminds us of the men we see climbing on the kilns 
in the representations on Corinthian pinakes (p. 76). 


Pollux , Onomasticon, vn, 108. 


It was the custom for bronze 
casters to hang something ridicu¬ 
lous in front of their furnaces, or 
to mould something upon them, in 
order to avert envy. These were 
called fiacntavLa. 


ripb 8 s xuv */.a[juvti)v xot<; xaXxsuaiv 
e'0o<; -rjv ysXoia xtva xaxapxav, r] exi- 
xXaxxecv, sxl q;06vou axoxpoxf). sxa- 
Xsixo 81 ( 8 aaxdvca. 


Sueli devices to avert the evil eye would apply equally to 
pottery kilns, as we know from actual representations (cf. pp. 
64 f.). It is natural that the vagaries of a kiln should be 
ascribed by the superstitious ancients to supernatural forces. 


RED OCHRE WASH 

Inscriptiones Graecae, n, 1, 546. 


Be it decreed by the senate and 
people of the Ioulietai concerning 
the representations of the envoys 
from Athens, that the export of 
miltos shall be to Athens, and 
to no other place from this 
day forward; if anyone ex¬ 
ports it to any other place, his 
ship and its cargo shall be con¬ 
fiscated and a half shall be given 

to the informer; . If the 

Athenians decree any other regu¬ 
lations for the guarding of the 
miltos they shall be valid. 


(”E 8 )osSv zfj (iouXfj xal xtp Brjpup 
X(o ’IouXnqxwv, xspl(d>v olxap’ ’A0t]- 
valtov Xsyouat, 8s86x0a)c zf} ( 806 X 7 ] 
xal X(p Srjpup x(T> ’IouXcrjxcov, slvac xr)(v 
s^ayGjyTjv xrjq pu'Xxou ’AOrjvatis), 
aXXoas 8 s pnqSayifj axb xijaSs xt)? tj^ls- 
P«s- sdv 8 s xc(<; a'XXoas s^ayy], Srjpib- 
aia slvat x)o xXotov xal xd ^pr^axa 
xd sv x<p xXoltp. xw 8 s 9 Y)v(avxt i] 
sv 8 s(^avxt stvac xd -rjtxi'asa). 

(sav 8s xi aX)Xo ^tjiptXwvxat ’A0r]vatot 
xspl cpuXaxfjc zfj<; pu'X(xou.... xupta 
sl)vat a av ’AO^vatot (^^(p^wvxai. 





ATHENIAN POTTEKY 




iy 

i 


Inscriptions Graecae, n, 1, 546. 


Theogenes moved: be it de¬ 
creed by the senate and people of 
the Koresians, concerning the 
representations of the envoys 
from Athens, the export of miltos 

shall be to Athens.as it was 

before; and in order that the 
decrees of the Athenians and 
Koresians concerning miltos may 
be valid, it shall be exported in a 
ship which they shall designate 

and in no other ship.the 

tax of two per cent shall be paid 
to the collectors by those en¬ 
gaged in the trade. 


(©soy )svr]<; elxev. BeBo^Oac (x)r j 
@ o(ukfl Y.<x\ XCp By)[JUi> X(j) KopT)ai(OV. 
xepl cov keyouac ol xap’ ’A0Y;)vata)v, 
elvac ifjq pu'kxou ttjv l£(ayojyYjv ’AOyj- 

vai^e. x)aOaxep xpoxspov rjv. 

bxcoq B’ av xupca y)(c x)a 

(.’AOiQvai'cov x)al Kop^ahov xa 

xepl xfjq ptlkxou, e^ayecv epixkoi'o) co(t 

av.dxoBec^coatv, ev akkco) Be 

xkoi'co pnfjBevt. 

(xek)ecv Be xyjv xevxY)/.oaxir)v xotq xev- 
xirjxoaxoXoyotq xouc; epya^opievouq. 


It is interesting to learn liow important miltos (red 
ochre) was to the Athenians. We know that it was used in 
building for the dressing of stones 1 ; and if the appearance 
of one of the chief articles of commerce of Athens, viz. the 
pottery, was dependent on it (cf. pp. 53 ff.), it is natural that 
stringent provisions should be made for its acquisition and 
monopoly. 


Pliny, Natural History, xxxv, 12 (43), 152. 

The addition of red ochre or Butades inventum est rubricam 
moulding in red clay is the inven- addere ant ex rubra creta fingere. 
tion of Butades. 


Suiclas, Lexicon, S. V. KtoAidSos Kepa/ir/ts . 


Potters of Kolias: Kolias, a 
place in Attica where vases are 
moulded. It is said that of all 
the kinds of clay that are brought 
to the wheel (and the wheel on 
which vessels are shaped is 
meant), that is, of all the clay 
fit for making vases, the clay of 
Kolias is the best, so that it is 
also dyed with miltos. 


Kcoktaq, xoxoq xijq ’Axxcxt}?, evOa 
axeur) xkaxxovxai, keyec ouv oxc baoc 
exl xpo^ous cpspovxat (xpo-/bv Be xbv 
ax.suoxkaTnx.ov kiyec) xouxeaxiv, oaat 
xpoq axeuoxkaat'av IxtxiqBscac, xaacov 
Y] KcokiaBoq xpetaacov’ coaxe xal (3a- 
xxeaOac uxb xf]<; pu'kxou. 


1 Cf. G. P. Stevens in Fowler-Wheeler, Greek Archaeology, p. 102. 









98 


THE CRAFT OF 


Isidorus, Etymologiae, xx, iv, 3. 


It is said that pottery vases 
were first invented in the island 
of Samos, being made of clay 
and hardened by fire, whence 
comes the term Samian vases. A 
later invention was to add red 
ochre and to make pottery of red 
clay. 


Fictilia vasa in Samo insula 
prius inventa traduntur, facta ex 
creta et indurata igni; unde et 
Sarnia vasa: postea inventum et 
rubricam addere et ex rubra creta 
fingere. 


The significance of these passages has already been 
discussed on pp. 53-59. 


POROSITY OF GREEK POTTERY 

Pollux, Onomasticon, vn, 161 ff. 

162. Aristophanes says that a 162. Aexpdv Be xepdpLeiov 6£iqp6v, 
clay vinegar jar has leprosy, in- dcvxl toG piuBav, ’Aptaxotpdvirji; Xeyet. 
stead of saying that it is moist 
(sweats?). 

This appears to refer to the fact that unglazed ware (and 
even painted Athenian pottery is unglazed in parts) 
becomes moist when filled with liquid, on account of its 
porosity. 


THE STATUS OF POTTERS 

Isokrates, De Permutatione, 2. 


As if one should have the inso¬ 
lence to call Pheidias, who made 
the statue of Athena, a statuette 
maker, or to say that Zeuxis and 
Parrhasius had plied the same 
trade as that of the painters of 
pinakes. 


v Qaxep av et xcq d>etBtav xbv xb xfjq 
’AOifjvaq eBoq epyaadptevov xoXpuorj 
xaXetv xopoxXaOov, ^ ZeG^tv xal Ilap- 
pdatov xtjv auxTjv e'xetv (pair] xexvrjv xot? 
xd xtvaxta ypdipouatv. 


Aristophanes, Ekklesiazousai, 995 f. 


Old Woman. Who is this? 
Young Man. The man who 
paints lekythoi for the dead. 


J p. ouxoq 5 eaxt xtq; 

Neavfocq. 8? xot<; vex potat ^o)y pac¬ 
ket xdq Xtjx60ou<;. 


ATHENIAN POTTEEY 


99 


Pint arch, Life 

So, distinguishing the whole 
people by the several arts and 
trades, he formed the companies 
of musicians, goldsmiths, carpen¬ 
ters, dyers, shoemakers, skinners, 
braziers, and potters (A. H. 
Clough). 


of Numa, 17. 

~Hv Be T) Btavopu] xaxa xa q xe^vag, 
auXr;x(ov, ^ puao^oojv, xexxovtov, (3a- 
<pewv, axuxoxopuov, axuxoBe^wv, %aX- 
xetov, xepapteoiv. 


Plato, Euthydemos, 301, c, d. 


What, said he, is the business 
of a good workman? Tell me, in 
the first place, whose business is 
hammering ? 

The smith’s. 

And whose the making of pots? 

The potter’s. 

And who has to kill and skin 
and mince and boil and roast? 

The cook, I said. 

And if a man does his business, 
he does rightly? 

Certainly. 

And the business of the cook is 
to cut up and skin; you have 
admitted that? 

Yes, I have, but you must not 
be too hard upon me. 

Then if some one were to kill, 
mince, boil, roast the cook, he 
would do his business, and if he 
were to hammer the smith, and 
make a pot of the potter, he 
would do their business (Jowett). 


Ota0a ouv, e^r), oxt xpoarjxet exa- 
axotq xcov BY)puoupy(ov; xpwxov xtva 
^aXxeuetv xpoarjxet, olaOa;—’'Eytoye' 
oxt xaXxea.—xt Be, xepapieuetv; xe- 
pap-ea.—xt Be, crpaxxetv xe xal exBe- 
petv xal xa puxpa xpea xaxaxotpavxa 
etpetv xal oxxav;—Mayetpov, ^v B’ 
eyu).—Ouxouv eav xtq, ’dept), xa xpo crr)- 
xovxa xpaxxTf), opOdx; xpaqet; MaXt- 
axa.—IIpoCTTjxet Be ye, d>q ipfjq , xov 
piayetpov xaxaxoxxetv xal exBepetv; 
opLoXoyTjaas xauxa r} ou;—'QpioXo- 
yt]aa, s^tqv, aXXa auyyvajfjnqv p.ot e^e 
— Ar/Xov xot'vuv, r] B’ o q, oxt av xtq 
acpa^ac; xbv ptayetpov xal xaxaxo- 
tyaq xal oxxTqay), xa xpoarjxovxa 

xorfjcet. xal eav xov /aXxea xt? auxov 
XaXxeufl xal xov xepaptea xepapieufl, 
xal ouxoq xa xpoaT]xovxa xpa^et. 


Justinus, PListoriae Philippicae, xxn, 1, 1 and 2. 


Agathocles, the tyrant of 
Sicily, w T ho succeeded to the great 
power of the elder Dionysius, 
came into the splendor of a king¬ 
dom from a humble and base 
family. And too, being born in 
Sicily of a potter, he had a boy¬ 
hood not more honorable than his 
origin. 


Agathocles, Siciliae tyrannus, 
qui magnitudini prioris Dionysii 
successit, ad regni maiestatem ex 
humili et sordido genere pervenit. 
Quippe in Sicilia patre figulo 
natus non honestiorem pueritiam 
quam principia originis habuit. 


) 


> y y 


100 


THE CRAFT OF 


Much has been written about the lowly status of Greek 
potters/ and the above references bear out this general idea. 
The craft of pottery was evidently placed on a par with 
other trades, and all such manual work was not considered 
a worthy occupation of free-born citizens, and left mostly 
to the metics, or non-citizens. We know this not only from 
texts and inscriptions on stone, but also from the non-Attic 
forms of the names of the potters, as well as the inscriptions 
on the vases which frequently show non-Attic spellings. 
It would be absurd, however, to infer that all pottery was as 
contemptuously regarded as the rough little tomb lekythoi 1 2 
and the pinakes referred to by Aristophanes and Isokrates. 
And this is borne out by the following references. 


Plato, Hippias Maior, p. 288 d. 


If a skilful potter had made 
the vessel smooth and rounded 
and well baked, like some of the 
tine two-handled jars which hold 
six choai—if he should ask us 
about such a vessel as this, we 
should be obliged to agree that it 
was beautiful. 


Etxsp Y) xuxpa x£xpapi£upi£vir) eh j 
uxo ayaOoG xepapLStoq Xeta xa \ axpoy- 
y uAyj xal xaXux; d%rr]ixevr], olac twv 
xaXtov %uzpd>v elai xtvsq Buoxoc, xcov 
xoaq xopouchov, xayxaXat, et 

xotauxiQV £po)x(pr) ^uxpav, XaXf;V 6- 

pioXoyqxeov stvat. 


Pliny, Natural History, xxxv, 161. 


At Erythrae in the temple there 
are shown today two amphorai 
consecrated on account of their 
thinness, a pupil and a teacher 
having contested as to which of 
them could draw the clay thinner. 


Erythris in templo hodieque os- 
tenduntur amphorae duae propter 
tenuitatem consecratae discipuli 
magistrique certamine, uter tenui- 
orem humum duceret. 


1 See especially Pottier, Catalogue des Vases au Musee du Louvre, 
III, pp. 690 ff. 

2 There is no reason to assume, as has been done by Walters, History 
of Ancient Pottery, I, pp. 132 and others, that these lekythoi are the 
beautiful white lekythoi in our collections; it is more likely that they 
are the very roughly painted little jugs found in large quantities in 
tombs, but rarely placed with selected museum examples. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


101 


Ampins, Ampelourgos, i. 

Meineke, Fragmenta Comicorum Graecorum, hi, p. 302 . 


There is no sweeter solace in 
life for human ills than crafts¬ 
manship; for the mind, absorbed 
in its study, sails past all troubles 
and forgets them. 


Out. 1'otiv ou06v dcxu%i'aq avOpwxt- 
vy jq 

xapapiuOcov yXuxuxepov ev 
xe/viqq' 

ext tou [xaOrjpLaToq yap eaxTjxwq 6 
vouq 

aiiToO XeXrjOe xapaxXewv xaq aupi- 
q>opdq. 


Pindar, Nemean Odes, x, 35, 36. 


And in earthenware baked in 
the tire, within the closure of fig¬ 
ured urns, there came among the 
goodly folk of Hera the prize of 
the olive-fruit (Myers). 


yody Be xauQetaoc xupixapxbqeXafaq 
IpioXev "Hpaq xbv euavopa Xabv 
ev dyyewv epxsatv xa[j.xocxt'Xotq. 


Simonides, Fragments, 155 (213) (Bergk). 

And he won five garlands in Kal navaOrjvatotq axeyavouq Xa6e 
succession at the Panathenaic xsvx’ ex’ aeQXocq 
games, amphorai full of oil. e£rjq api<pt<popeiq eXacou. 

That finely executed pottery was held in high esteem is 
evident from the remarks of Plato, Pliny, and Pindar; and 
there certainly could be no more enthusiastic eulogy of 
craftsmanship than Amp his ’ beautiful lines. Moreover, 
the fact that clay vases were used as prizes at the most 
important games at Athens certainly points to considerable 
and wide-spread appreciation of them. 


Ktesias ap. Athenaeus, p. 464 a. 


And Ktesias says, ‘ 1 Among the 
Persians he whom the king wishes 
to insult uses pottery vessels.” 


Kal yap Kxiqafaq “xapd Tlspcatc”, 
<pT)atv, “ov av ^aacXeijq axipiaafl, xepa- 
pieoiq xpijxac”. 


102 


THE CRAFT OF 


Plutarch, Life of Galha, 12. 


When he was dining with 
Claudius Caesar he stole a silver 
cup, and Caesar, finding it out, 
invited him to dinner again on 
the next day, but ordered his 
servants to bring out and put 
before the guest nothing silver, 
but everything of pottery. 


Aeixvwv Be xapd KXauBcop Katcapt 
xoTijptov apyupouv u^ec'Xexo. xu06p,e- 
vo q Be o Kaiaap xfj uaxepat'a xdXiv au- 
xbv exl Becxvov exaXeaev, eX0ovxc Be 
exeXeuaev exet'vw pnqBev apyupouv, 
aXXa xepdpiea xdvxa xpoa^epetv xal 
xapaxi0evai xoug uxrjpexaq. 


Tibullus, Elegies, i, 1, 37 f. 

Come, ye gods, nor scorn the Adsitis, divi, neu vos e paupere 
gifts from a poor man’s table, mensa 

from clean pottery vessels. dona nee e puris spernite fictili- 

bus. 

Juvenal, Satires, iii, 168. 

[Even a poor man] is ashamed fictilibus cenare pudet— 
to dine off pottery dishes. 


Martial, Epi 

We advise you not overmuch 
to despise Arretian vases: Tus¬ 
can earthenware was luxury to 
Porsena (W. E. Ker). 

Lucian, Pr 

Then you say I am Prome¬ 
theus? If, Sir, it is because I 
too work in clay, I recognize the 
similarity and acknowledge that 
I am like him, nor do I refuse 
to be called a potter. 


r ams, xiv, 98. 

Arretina nimis ne spernas vasa 
monemus. 

lautus erat Tuscis Porsena fictili¬ 
bus. 

ometheus, 1. 

Oux ouv IlpopiirjOea pie elvac cpflq; 
et p.ev xaxd xouxo, to apcaxe, foq xY)Xt- 
vg)v xdp.oi xwv epywv ovxoiv, yvtop luw 
xrjv etxova xaf <pr)pu opiocoi; elvac auxio, 
ouB’ avacvopiac xr]XoxXd0o<; dxouetv. 


Athenaeus , xi, p. 482 b. 

(.Repeated by Macrobius, Satires, v, 21, 10.) 

They placed a krater for the Kpaxfjpa yap Yaxaaav xotg 0eocq, 
gods, not of silver nor set with 0 ux apyupouv ouBe Xc0oxoXXt]xov, 
stones, but of clay from Kolias. £XXd yfjq KcoXcdBoq. 

Though the Persians and the Romans set great store by 
metal vases and regarded clay vases as fit only for a poor 
man’s table, the Greeks had no such feelings, as we 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


103 


learn fiom Athenaeus and from innumerable vase paintings 
of banquets. 


Inscriptiones Graecae, 

Euphronios the potter offered 

. in supplication to 

(Athena) Hygieia. 


i, Supply 362, p. 79. 

(E) u<ppovioq (aveOiqxev b) xepapie 
(.Ixeafjav 'Yyteta(t). 




Inscriptiones Graecae, 

Mnesiades the potter and An- 
dokides dedicated me. 


i, Suppl. 373 215 , p. 101. 

(Mv^acdBrjq xepapLeuq [xe 
’AvBoxtBiqq avsOiqxsv. 


xal 


Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, 3485. 


The lord of the land and sea, 
Imperator Caesar M. Aurelius 
Severus Antoninus, Pius, Augus¬ 
tus, the potters have erected from 
their own property. 


Tov yfjq xal 0aXaaaY}q Beaxoxrjv 
Auxoxpaxopa Kacaapa M. Aup(r)- 
Xcov) Eeur^pov ’Avxiovtvov, EuaeSf], 
SeSaaxov, (ex xdiv) IStwv YB(puaav) 
ol xepapieiq. 


Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, 9188. 


Sarcophagus of Theopliilos and 
his son Tyrannos, a potter by 
trade. 


Soi[xaxG)XT)XY} ©soocptXou (xal xou) 
(a)u(x)ou (u)ou Tupdvvou xt)v xe- 
Xvyjv xspa(pii6>q). 


Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, addenda 4212. 


I, Sesames the potter, have 
bought through the board of 
magistrates this burial vault for 
myself and my wife Elpis and 
my mother-in-law Euphrosyne 
and for Ianoarios and our chil¬ 
dren, and for Soterichos my 
father-in-law. No one else shall be 
buried here, since (the violator) 
shall pay to the sacred treasurer 
1500 denarii. 


2 )r]adpiaq xepapie uq (ovYjadpt^v bid 
xd>v ap^ekov xbv xupycaxov sauxw xal 
yuvatxt piou ’EXxtBc xal x(fj) xev- 
0sp(t6t piou) E ucppotf'jvY] x(al) ’Iavo- 
apuo xal x(e)xvotq T)(puov) xal Ecoxr]- 
pt%ip xqi xevOe(pto). exspo) BeBuoevl 
e^eaxac (xsO)Yjvai. Ixel a(xo)(x)- 
ecaei X(T> (lepwxdxti) xapLs(l)oi Bigva- 
pta acp. 


These inscriptions of dedications show that potters some¬ 
times became people of means and influence. 


Plato, Republic, p. 467 a. 


Did you never observe in the 
arts how the potters’ boys look 
on and help, long before they 
touch the wheel? (Jowett). 


”Houx ]QaOir)aac xa xepl xaq xe^vac, 
olov xouq xd>v xepapiewv xatBaq, d>q 
xoXuv xpovov Biaxovouvxeq Oecopouac 
xplv axxsaOat xou xepapieueiv; 




104 


THE CRAFT OF 


Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, n, 17, 3. 


. . For what man is there so 
bereft, I will not say of learning, 
but of sense, that he thinks that 
there is an art of constructing 
and of weaving, and of making 
vases from clay, but that rhetoric, 
that greatest and noblest work, 
as I said above, has risen to such 
sublime heights without art? 


. .nam quis est adeo non ab erudi- 
tione modo, sed a sensu remotus 
hominis, ut fabricandi quidem et 
texendi et e luto vasa ducendi 
artem putet, rhetoricen autem, 
maximum ac pulcherrimum, ut 
supra diximus, opus, in tarn sub¬ 
lime fastigium existimet sine arte 
venisse ? 


Suidas, Lexicon, S. V. Kepa/ievecv. 


To make pottery: commonly 
said instead of 1 ‘ to work hard. , ’ 


Kepapieuetv. xotva><; avxl xou xaxep- 
yd^eaOac. 


Hesiod, Works and Days, 25 f. 


Potter bears a grudge against 
potter, and carpenter against car¬ 
penter, and beggar envies beggar, 
and minstrel is jealous of min¬ 
strel. 


Kal xepapieuq xe papist xoxsec x a! 
xsxxovt xexxtov 

xal xxo^oq xxtpOoveet xal 
aotSoq dcotBo). 


Aristotle, Rhetoric, 2, 4, 21, 22. 


[We are friendly towards] our 
equals, and towards those who 
have the same interests, if they 
do not clash with us, and if their 
livelihood does not come from the 
same source, for thus arises the 
proverb 11 Potter hates potter. ’ ’ 


Kal xoug opiotouq xod xauxd extxiQ- 
Be6ovxa<;, eav per) xapevo^Xtoat per) B’ 
axo xauxou o (3t'o<;. ytyvsxac Y^P 
ouxo) xo xspapietjq xepapiet. 


Aristotle, Nicomachaean Ethics, 8,1, 6. 


For some define [friendship] 
as a kind of resemblance, and 
claim that those who resemble 
each other are friends, whence 
is the saying “Like to like,“ 
and “Jackdaw to Jackdaw,“ and 
so on. Others, on the contrary, 
say that all such people are like 
potters to each other. 


Ol piev yap opiotoxTqxa xtva xcOsaatv 
auxrjv xal xou^ optotouq ipt'kouq, bOev 
xbv optotov 9 aacv oiq xov opiotov, xal 
xoXocov xoxl xoUctov, xal xa xotauxa. 
ol S’ evavxfaq xepapieT<; xavxa? xoCx; 
xotouxouq aXXYjXots cpaalv slvat. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


105 


Evidently it was fully recognized that pottery was a 
craft which needed a long apprenticeship, and in such a 
highly specialized art we are not surprised to read of the 
keen rivalry existing among potters. The inscription by 
Euthymides on one of his vases, “Never has Euphronios 
painted the like of this” (cf. Hoppin, Handbook of Attic 
Red-Figured Vases, p. 432), is evidence of the same spirit. 

Judging from the evidence collected above it is fair to 
assume that though the estimate of potters and pottery 
varied at different times, in the period of Athenian vase 
painting it was distinctly high. Potters had, it is true, no 
social status; but the3 r were respected members of the com¬ 
munity, and the keen appreciation of their work had as its 
natural result eager rivalry among the potters and the set¬ 
ting of high standards. That their craft was regarded as a 
“trade” is of course nothing new. Artists as a class have 
only lately been promoted to the higher social ranks. We 
need only recall Albrecht Diirer’s description of the great 
Procession from the Church of Our Lady at Antwerp, in 
which he lists the painters and sculptors and goldsmiths 
with “the masons, the joiners, the carpenters, the sailors, 
the fishermen, the butchers, the leatherers, the clothmakers, 
the bakers, the tailors, the cordwainers,” and refers to the 
group as “workmen of all kinds and many craftsmen and 
dealers who work for their livelihood.” This is not so much 
an indignity to art as a wholesome appreciation of all 
manual labor. 


CONCLUSION 


T HE following is a summary of the technical processes 
of the black-figured and red-figured Athenian vases 
in the order which our study of the subject has 
suggested. 


I. THE PREPARATION OF THE CLAY 

(1) Mixing the requisite ingredients (unless the natural 

clay was satisfactory). 

(2) Washing. 

(3) Wedging or kneading. 

II. THE FASHIONING OF THE VASE 

(1) Throwing. 

(2) Turning. 

(3) Polishing. 

(4) Attaching handles. 

III. THE DECORATION OF THE VASE 
a. Black-figured Technique. 

(1) Application of red ochre over the whole surface. 

Traces of the red ochre solution on black-figured 
vases are not common; so that it is possible that its 
application was not a regular proceeding. 

(2) Preliminary sketch for design. 

As this was completely covered by the black glaze 
afterwards and there are therefore only occasional 
traces of it now (cf. e.g. Furtwangler u. Reichhold, 
Griecliische Vasenmalerei, I, pi. 4), it is uncertain, 
though inherently probable, that such a sketch was 
generally made. 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


107 


(3) Painting of the design, including figures, decorative 

motives, and backgrounds, in black glaze. 

(4) Incision of details. 

(5) Addition of purple and white accessory colors, 
b. Red-figured Technique. 

(1) Application of red ochre over the whole surface. 

(2) Preliminary sketch for design with a blunt instrument. 

(3) Painting of the design, the decorative motives, and 

the solid black surfaces. 

The process of the figure painting was as follows: 
the outlines of the figures were indicated outside 
the spaces intended for them, first with a narrow line, 
then with a broader contour stripe; then the details 
within the red silhouette, and sometimes the outlines, 
were painted in black glaze lines; finally the back¬ 
ground was filled in with the black glaze. 

(4) Addition of accessory colors if needed. 

IV. THE FIRING OF THE VASE 

The most important revisions of current theories on the 
technique of Athenian vases which our treatment of the 
subject has suggested are : 

(1) The use of turning as a regular process applied to the 
vases after they were thrown. To this operation they owe 
much of their finish and refinement. 

(2) The application of a red ochre pigment on the sur¬ 
face of the vases in their raw state, before they were deco¬ 
rated or fired. It is to this red ochre application that the 
present orangey color of the Athenian vases is due, as 
against the pinkish hue shown in the fractures of the clay. 
Originally, however, this color was even deeper, approach¬ 
ing that of bright red copper. 


108 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


(3) Both the glaze and the accessory colors were applied 
when the vases were in leather-hard condition, before any 
firing. Instead of the two, three, or four firings often 
assumed by archaeologists, the evidence points to only one 
fire, after total completion of the vase. 

(4) The great majority of Athenian vases were made for 
actual use, not for votive, decorative, or funeral purposes, 
as is still often assumed. 


SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 


m HE technique of Greek vases has naturally been a 
subject of study with most writers on Greek ceramics. 
_JL_ The following is a selection of the most important 
works in this field : 


Blumner, H. Technologie u. Terminologie der Gewerbe u. 
Kiinste bei den Griechen u. Rcimern, II, pp. 32 ff. Leip¬ 
zig, 1895. 

Brongniart, A. Traite des arts ceramiques ou des poteries, 
I. Second edition, Paris, 1854. 

Jahn, 0. Uber ein Vasenbild welches eine Topferei vor- 
stellt, in Bericlite der sachsischen Gesellschaft der Wis- 
senschaften. Leipzig, 1854. 

Jamot, P., in Daremberg et Saglio, Dictionnaire des 
antiquites grecques et romaines, under figlinum. 

Luynes, Due de. De la poterie antique, in Annali dell ’Insti¬ 
tute, IV, pp. 138 ff. Milan, 1894. 

Perrot, G., in Perrot et Cliipiez, Histoire de Part dans 
1’antiquite, IX, pp. 322 ff. Paris, 1911. 

Pottier, E. Catalogue des vases antiques de terre cuite 
au Musee du Louvre, III, pp. 651 ff. Paris, 1906. 

Rayet, 0., et Collignon, M. Histoire de la ceramique 
grecque, Introduction. Paris, 1888. 

Reichhold, K., in Furtwangler u. Reichhold, Griechische 
Vasenmalerei, text passim but especially I, pp. 12 ff., 
19 ff., 45, 54, 68, 82, 140, 145 ff., 181; II, pp. 199 ff. 

' Munich, 1904. 

Robinson, E. Catalogue of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman 
Vases in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, pp. 33 ff. 
Boston and New York, 1893. 

Walters, H. B. History of Ancient Pottery, Greek, 
Etruscan, and Roman, I, pp. 202 ff. London, 1905. 

Wheeler, J. R., in Fowler and Wheeler, Greek Archaeol¬ 
ogy, pp. 420 ff. New York, 1909. 


110 


ATHENIAN POTTERY 


The two following handbooks on the manufacture of 
modern pottery will be found useful also by students of 
ancient techniques: 

Binns, C. F. The Potter’s Craft. New York, 1910 (sec¬ 
ond edition, 1922). 

Cox, G. Pottery for Artisans, Craftsmen, and Teachers. 
New York, 1914. 


INDEX 


Alumina, see Oxide, Boron. 

Binder, medium used as, 16, 47, 50. 

Biscuit, 34-37, 51. 

Blunging, 2. 

11 Bone-dry, ’ ’ 11. 

Brush-case, 74. 

Brushes, 47, 51, 52, 70, 71-75; representations of, 70-72. 

Bucchero pottery, technique of, 45. 

Building, 4, 26-27, 93-94; coils, 26; literary references to, 93-94; 
terracotta statuette of man in act of(?), 70; wooden core for, 
93-94. 


Calipers, 15, 16, 65. 

Carbon, 30, 45; dioxide, 30; monoxide, 30. 

Centering, 7, 8. 

Clay, 1, 20, 40-44; color of, 1, 3, 45, 54, 55, 58, 87, 88; component parts 
of, 1, 88; ingredients of, 1, 55, 57; literary references to, 87, 88; 
plasticity of, 1, 2, 88; porosity of, 1, 59, 61, 62; preparation of, 
1, 88; varieties of, 40; vitrification of, 1, 29, 30; washing of, 2, 3. 

Color, 36, 54, 58, 59; accessory, 44; change of, through firing, 1, 3, 31, 
36, 45, 58; literary references to, see Miltos. 

Cones, pyrometric, 35, 36. . 

Decorating, 35, 39, 42, 44, 51; ancient representations of, 40, 70-75. 

Design, 15; before or after firing, 37-44; preliminary, 37, 39, 58, 72. 

Draught, 30, 31, 33, 76. 

Drying, 10, 21. 

Fashioning of vases, 4-29; literary references to, 89-94. 

Finish, 25, 69; inside, 15; outer surface, 25; under handles, 25. 

Firing of vases, 3, 29-47, 79; accidents through, 36, 37, 40, 41, 44-47; 
length of, 35, 36; literary references to, 94-96; methods of, 
34-36; number of firings, 35, 37, 41, 42, 44; temperature of, 35; 
(1 twice-fired, ’ ’ 35, 37, 39. 

Foot, 11, 12, 17, 18, 26. 

Fuel, 30, 33, 34, 65, 76. 

Glaze, 19, 31, 34-36, 39, 47, 57, 58, 61, 62, 65, 74, 78, 86; application of, 
39, 40-44, 47-53, 57, 72; Athenian, 48-49; composition of, 47-49; 
discoloration of, 45-47; preparation of, 47; varieties of, 47; 
wearing qualities, 47-49. 

Gum tragacanth, 47. 


112 


INDEX 


Handles, 19-25, 56, 60, 62; attachment of, 19, 21, 67, 69; handmade, 
20, 24; moulded, 20, 28. 

Implements, potter’s, 10, 11, 64, 84-86. 

Incision of details, 37-39. 

Jigger, 11. 

Joining, 16-19, 28, 29; representation of, on pinax(?), 68, 69. 

Jolly, 11. 

Kiln, 21, 32-37, 41, 44-46, 86; ancient representations of, 34, 64, 65, 
76-78; literary references to, 89, 94-96; packing of, 34. 

‘ 1 Lagerringe, ’ ’ 46. 

‘ 1 Lasur, ’ ; see Miltos. 

Leather-hard, 10, 16, 25, 37, 39, 40, 44, 50, 51, 58, 65. 

Lip, 11, 12, 29, 44, 60. 

Metics, as potters, 100; social standing of, 100. 

Miltos, 47, 53-59, 61; as wash, 58, 59; laws governing export of, 96, 
97; literary references to, 96-98; methods of applying, 55-58. 

Mortar, for crushing glaze, 74. 

Moulding of vases, 20, 24, 27-29. 

Moulds, 4, 12, 20, 21, 24, 27, 28, 86; material of, 27, 29, 86. 

Oven, see Kiln. 

Oxidation, 30, 58. 

Oxide, 1; boron, 47; calcium, 1; ferric, 30, 31, 45, 46; ferrous, 30., 
31, 45, 46, 49. 

Painting, 39, 40, 42, 51, 70-75, 98; brushes for, 51-53, 70-72, 75. 

Paint-pots, 70, 71, 74, 75. 

Pinax, 65, 67-69, 73, 75-78. 

Plaster, 20, 21, 26, 27, 85. 

Polishing, 19, 58; tools for, 19. 

Porosity, 1, 59, 61, 62; literary reference to, 98. 

Potter, 14, 15, 17-19, 25, 27, 31, 40, 44, 47, 54, 55; ancient representa¬ 
tions of, 5, 9, 64-77, 80, 81; implements of, 10, 11, 64, 84-86; 
literary references to, 87-105, “master potter,” 75, 80; mis¬ 
cellaneous scenes, 78-84; shop of, 81, 82; statues of Greek, 
98-100, 102-105; of Roman, 99, 102; women as, 71. 

Pottery, ancient representations of, 64-70, 75, 77, 78; literary refer¬ 
ences to, 87-104. 

Proportion, 14, 26, 59. 

Pyrometer, 35. 

Pyrometric cones, 35, 36. 


INDEX 


113 


Bed ochre, see Miltos. 

Keduction, 30, 31, 45, 46; partial, 31. 

“ Relief” lines, 52, 53. 

Rivets, 59, 63. 

Saggers, 32, 34. 

Satyr, stoking oven, 83; head, to avert evil eye, 64, 65. 

Sections, work in, 15-19. 

Ship, with pottery, 82, 83. 

Shrinkage, 16, 28. 

Silicate, 47, 49. 

Slip, 2, 11, 16, 19, 21, 27, 28. 

Stele, votive, 80, 81; ‘‘master potter,” 80. 

Stilts, 34, 85, 86. 

Stoking kiln, 65, 76. 

Strainer for clay, 2; for glaze, 74. 

Symmetry, Dynamic, 14. 

Temperature of firing, 3, 29-32, 35, 36, 55. 

Templet, 27. 

‘ ‘ Test,’ ’ 43, 44. 

Throwing, 7-9, 12, 29; ancient representations of, 65, 66; in sections, 
15-19, 69; literary references to, 88-91; to measurements, 9, 
14, 15. 

Turning, 10-15, 19, 40, 42; literary references to, 89-92; tools for, 
10-12, 14, 18. 

Use of Greek vases, 59-63; as ornaments, 60, 61; as practical utensils, 
59-63; as votive offerings, 60. 

Vases, Attic, 12, 27-29, 54, 58, 59; fragility of, 59, 62; measurements 
of, 14; porosity of, 59, 61, 62; proportions of, 59; value of, 87, 
100, 101; wearing qualities of, 59, 62. 

Vasiliki ware, technique of, 45. 

Amtive offerings, 60, 67, 68, 73, 75. 

Wedging, 2, 3; literary reference to, 88. 

Wheel, 4-9, 27, 29, 51, 54; ancient representations of, 5, 65-68, 72, 73; 
invention of potter’s, 27, 89; literary references to, 88-91, 97, 
103; types of, 4-6, 91. 

Wheel-head, 7, 84, 85. 


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